Warriors hold off Thunder to force Game 6
OAKLAND, Calif. - Stephen Curry scored 31 points, raising his arms in the early moments to awaken Golden State's raucous crowd, and the defending champion Warriors staved off elimination with a 120-111 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.
The MVP made a snazzy layup late and dished out six assists, while Klay Thompson added 27 points as Golden State sent the best the best-of-seven series back to Oklahoma City for Game 6 on Saturday night. Golden State trails 3-2 and is trying to become just the 10th team to rally from a 3-1 deficit.
''We're not going home! We're not going home!'' Curry yelled at the top of his lungs in the waning moments.
Kevin Durant scored 40 points and Russell Westbrook added 31 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, and five steals for the Thunder, who are trying for the second NBA Finals appearance since the franchise moved to OKC (The Seattle SuperSonics appeared in three Finals, winning the championship in 1979).
The record-setting, 73-win Warriors, coming off their first back-to-back defeats all season, had been blown out in two losses at Oklahoma City by a combined 52 points.
Durant's 3-pointer with 4:34 left got the Thunder within 103-98, then Curry answered with a three-point play.
Curry scored seven points in a 58-second stretch of the second quarter, but the Thunder didn't go away easily.
Curry shot 9 for 20 and also had five steals, while Thompson had his 11th 20-point game for the second straight postseason. Draymond Green had 11 points and 13 rebounds.
With his 1,248th career postseason point in the third, Curry passed Wilt Chamberlain (1,246) for second place on the franchise's playoff scoring list.
Steve Kerr thought his Warriors might have an edge against the percentages of teams having trailed 3-1 because they're the defending champs and were playing at home, where they have been nearly unbeatable.
Kerr called for center Andrew Bogut to do more, and the 7-footer delivered with a playoff career-high 15 points and 14 rebounds for his second double-double this postseason and seventh of his career.