Warriors get Thunderstruck in Game 1

AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

Warriors and Thunder kicked off the Western Conference Finals yesterday and the game was exciting as many predicted. The game was a tail of two halves. In the first half the Thunder turned over the ball 10 times and were out rebounded. The Thunder's only advantage in this series is size so to lose the rebounding battle would give the Thunder no shot in this series. Steph Curry did what he does best and the Warriors "death" line up ballooned the lead to 13 at half time after only being up four. Westbrook was shooting poorly and really had trouble getting himself going. Overall the first half left many with the impression that the Thunder need to figure this thing out in Game 2.

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In the third quarter the tides started to turn. Westbrook hit one three pointer and from there he was on fire. He poured in 19 points in the third quarter and the Thunder cut the Warriors lead down to three before the fourth quarter. The Thunders defense really improved and they started to kill the Warriors on the boards.

Later in the fourth the Thunder improved their lead to eight before they went cold on the offensive end. Durant and Westbrook missed a combined seven shots in a row. Durant especially had trouble finding the rim. Durant took some hard shots, but he also missed some open looks as well. On the Warriors side they slowly chipped away at the lead and even got it down to one with two minutes left. From there both sides really struggled to score the ball in the final minutes and both sides played great defense. What really stood out was Westbrook's defense on Curry. He smothered Curry at the end of the game and really made him work to even get a shot off. The Warriors only went 1-10 from three down the final stretch of the game.

AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

What should stand out in this game is the Thunder's defense as well as the play of Steven Adams. Adams is very important to this Thunder team because he brings toughness, height, defense and he hustles on offense to create extra possessions. This is going to be a problem for the Warriors because when Adams comes out Kanter comes in and even though Kanter's defense is not the same as Adams he provides the same rebounding as Adams and has a much better offensive game. Sometimes the Thunder play Kanter and Adams at the same time. Having to seven footers on the floor is going to be a problem for any team.

Game 2 is on Wednesday and I expect it to be another close game. I don't think the Warriors will drop two at home let alone two in a row. For the Thunder they really need to play like they did in the second half of Game 1 if they want a chance to steal Game 2. This should be exciting.