OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oklahoma City Thunder had walked off the floor following a demoralizing blowout loss, with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook taking in the majority of the fourth quarter from the bench. “Move on,” Durant said. “We just move past it and figure out what we have to do better. No crazy emotions.”
That wasn’t what Durant said after Wednesday’s 27-point Game 2 loss to the Golden State Warriors in the conference finals. That’s what Durant said following the Thunder’s 32-point loss to the Spurs in Game 1 of the Western semifinals two weeks ago. The Thunder had been embarrassed, watching an avalanche plow them over. They faced a crossroads, and a response was required.
They bounced back and came away from that Game 1 against the Spurs a changed team, for the better. Circumstances are now different, with the Thunder already having their split in hand, but the feel is similar. The Warriors didn’t just take Game 2. They did it in an emphatic, message-sending way that might reverberate enough to carry over. The Thunder are back to looking in the mirror.
“We’ve got to deal in the reality and the truth,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “The reality and the truth is, OK, here are the things that went wrong. Here are the corrections we need to make. Here are the adjustments we need to make. Here’s what we need to do and the series right now is 1-1. That’s the truth right now coming out of it.”
It’s sometimes hard to maintain perspective in a postseason series, especially when the most recent game must have takeaways and reaction. Had the Thunder been blitzed in Game 1 and bounced back in Game 2, the narrative heading into Game 3 would be about their resiliency and momentum in taking home-court advantage. Because it was the Warriors who seized momentum, it’s about how the Thunder let a big opportunity slip.
The postgame message from the Thunder after Game 1 was not one of satisfaction. At least not publicly. They wanted more, to put a stranglehold on the series and start holding the Warriors’ feet to the fire. Letting Golden State off the hook is a dangerous thing, especially because it’s a team that rides a wave better than anyone. The Thunder got one, but they wanted two.
“We’re upset,” Durant said. “Guys in the locker room, we weren’t happy because we only won just one game. We were upset that we didn’t play well tonight and get the second one.” Because Durant knows that going home carries no guarantee. The Thunder won that Game 2 in San Antonio to steal home-court advantage … and then promptly gave it right back with a dud in Game 3 at home. The Thunder appear to have control of the series, but it’s like Bane in the movie “The Dark Knight Rises.” Do you feel in charge? The Warriors made Sunday’s Game 3 a significant swing game.
“We’re going home, and we can’t relax,” Durant said. “At home you tend to let your guard down a bit because you’re at home and you think you’re going to win. But we’ve got to come out here and play. We’ve got to play our brand of basketball even better than what we did when we were in Oakland. So it’s a good opportunity for us. You’ve got to take advantage of it.”
Said teammate Steven Adams: “It doesn’t matter if you’re home or not — the other team’s still going to come out and play. It’s still going to be one hell of a battle, no advantages or anything like that. Just 1-1 right now, so yeah.”
There’s a lot to clean up. The Thunder turned the ball over far too much Wednesday — 15 times — with Durant contributing eight by himself. He had 23 points in the first half but was limited to six in the second. The Warriors are bracketing and shading him everywhere, especially against the Thunder’s starting five, as they have elected to ignore Andre Roberson completely.
“They were sending three guys; I was trying to make the right pass,” Durant said. “I was turning the ball over, playing the crowd. So maybe I’ve just got to shoot over three people.”
There’s an air of inevitability to the Warriors, with this kind of game likely to come at some point. When they turn on the faucet, it can be nearly impossible to turn it off. The Thunder got hit in waves and crumbled as the game started slipping. There’s a natural reaction to wonder if order has been restored, if the Warriors are going to pick up the baton in Game 3 and keep running away.
But in talking to players, there was still robust confidence and belief coming out of the Thunder locker room. The way the Warriors jarred them in Game 2, looking like the team that won 73 games this season, it could shake the Thunder’s foundation. Instead, as they flew home late Wednesday night, the Thunder took with them the thing they were really looking for when they arrived.
“I think the important thing right now is you can get caught up in a lot of different emotional things that go on,” Donovan said. “The truth and reality right now is the series is 1-1. That’s where it’s at.”