With Oklahoma City missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (plantar fasciitis,) Lu Dort (shoulder,) and Aleksej Pokusevski (shoulder) Oklahoma City fell to the Golden State in colossal fashion 147-109. The Thunder stacked their losing streak to eight given the loss; however, they advanced to the fifth-best lottery odds sneaking above the Cleveland Cavaliers (20-34) with a 20-35 record. The Golden State Warriors managed to combat James Wiseman’s absence (knee) in their victory, stepping over the San Antonio Spurs (26-27) for the ninth-seed in the West, currently sitting with a 27-28 record.
Both teams began the night sloppy, totaling four turnovers in the first four minutes for a Warrior 5-4 lead. Once respective clubs settled, the Warriors stretched the perimeter shooting 6-of-12 in the quarter while Thunder tried to return the favor, but drew barren success going 2-of-8. Oklahoma City directed their attention in the frame’s sunset stage to attack Kevon Looney inside, using a barrage of Tony Bradley high-ball screens to open the midrange while giving Bradley chances under the basket. Despite the Thunder shooting 57-percent in the period, their lack of honing in from deep came to bite them — falling 36-32 through one.
Polarizing playstyles continued to begin the second quarter as Golden State stacked a double-digit lead after a mere four minutes, using a pair of Jordan Poole right-wing triples to headline a 13-4 run. The Warriors second-unit has been known to run dreary when absent of Curry, but the exact opposite panned out in the midst of their push — continuing their run to 25-10 while swinging the pendulum 19 points in their favor. Moses Brown chipped in five consecutive points, but it hardly left a dent to Golden State. Just like the Oklahoma City forecast, the Warriors rained on triples for the majority of the frame, weathering a lead up to 27 before calming at 75-54 at half.
Golden State wasn’t phased by the halftime break. The Warriors added onto their success by eclipsing a 30-point advantage six minutes into the third, a 40-point margin minutes later, and an advantage topping at 44-points in the final minute. Steve Kerr’s bunch rounded out the frame outplaying Oklahoma City 50-29 while heading into the fourth up 125-83. Stephen Curry nearly outscored the entire Thunder lineup in the third posting video-game numbers on 8-of-8 shooting (6-of-6 3pt) for a 25-point quarter.
The fourth quarter saw Mark Daigneault insert rotational pieces in Jaylen Hoard, Ty Jerome, and Justin Robinson (final game of 10-day contract) for the better part of the frame while Steve Kerr returned the favor with his second-unit. Oklahoma City outscored Golden State 26-22 but at that point the night’s result had been determined.
The Warriors ran open-gym out the gate and never looked back. Steve Kerr’s 12-man lineup torched the Thunder with a season-high 24 threes on 47 attempts (51.1%.) Stephen Curry kept the course on his monstrous April streak (39.9 point average) dropping 42 points on 14-of-20 shooting. Curry’s six three-point contest trophies aren’t for nothing as converted on 11 threes in 16 tries.
“Curry is one of the greatest players ever, literally. He did his thing tonight, he put on a show in 3 quarters. For our guys, this is part of playing in the NBA,” Daigneault stated postgame.
Oklahoma City 38-point loss set their losing streak into an NBA record, posting the first time a team has been outscored by a combined 200 points in their last eight games — the Thunder’s losses amassed to 219 points.
Darius Bazley doused a team-high 22 points (10-18 FG) and 8 rebounds. In his third game back from his shoulder injury, the sophomore went inside for all ten of his made field goals, going a blank 0-3 from distance.
Moses Brown racked up his fourth double-double in April finishing the night with 18 points (8-of-13 FG) and 12 rebounds. Brown hammered Kevon Looney with his 4-inch height advantage snagging over defenders all night.
Tony Bradley followed Brown’s precedent working down low for 13 points and 7 rebounds (4 offensive.) While Svi Mykhailiuk, Ty Jerome, and Theo Maledon dropped 14, 11, and 10 points respectively.
The Oklahoma City Thunder (20-34) will take a day-break before embarking on a four-game road-stand starting against the Detroit Pistons (16-39) Friday night.