No. They ran into a bad matchup against a team with 2 of the top 5 players in the world. OKC turned out to be quite a bit more versatile than anyone gave them credit for.
OKC has dominated going small.
Thunder lineup of Westbrook, Waiters, Roberson, Durant, Ibaka has outscored the Warriors 91-35 in 26 minutes the last two games.
That's incredible.
OKC has dominated going small.
Thunder lineup of Westbrook, Waiters, Roberson, Durant, Ibaka has outscored the Warriors 91-35 in 26 minutes the last two games.
That's incredible.
probably a combo of multiple things. I don't think OKC is a bad match up for them, GSW have lost to them only once in the last 2 years. Many of those wins were by 15+ points. OKC is is playing great right now. Lots of confidence after beating the Spurs. GSW has been playing tired for about a month or more, its been easy to see the decline. Curry isn't 100%. All of these things playing a part in this series.
Maybe it's this:
Greatest Tandems in NBA History
West & Baylor
Jordan & Pippen
Shaq & Kobi
Jabbar & Magic
Alcindor & Robertson
Lebron & Wade
Westbrook & Durant belong with this group
Can't think of any other duo that does
OKC support cast has been terrific better than expected that's another big reason
Greatest Tandems in NBA History
West & Baylor
Jordan & Pippen
Shaq & Kobi
Jabbar & Magic
Alcindor & Robertson
Lebron & Wade
Westbrook & Durant belong with this group
Can't think of any other duo that does
OKC support cast has been terrific better than expected that's another big reason
Any team trying to win back to back is gonna be fighting some fatigue but that isn't really more of an issue than it usually is at this time of year. They got an easy matchup rd 2 because Griffin and Paul died within 5 minutes against Portland. OKC had to play another elite team.
Nobody was calling them tired in the 1st half of game 1 or after their game 2 beatdown. They've gotten killed on the road vs OKC the last two but so did San Antonio. OKC is just playing great, especially at home. Very little margin for error for GS.
Curry likely isn't 100% but he isn't 50% either, he's out there and he has had good games. Westbrook's defense on him has been as good as you can play him.
Nobody was calling them tired in the 1st half of game 1 or after their game 2 beatdown. They've gotten killed on the road vs OKC the last two but so did San Antonio. OKC is just playing great, especially at home. Very little margin for error for GS.
Curry likely isn't 100% but he isn't 50% either, he's out there and he has had good games. Westbrook's defense on him has been as good as you can play him.
I don't see what relevance 2014-2015 would have, OKC is a different team now and wasn't even healthy for most of that year.
In general using regular season matchups as a barometer for what is going to happen in the postseason is flawed to me, very few opponent specific adjustments made over an 82 game season, benches are longer, intensity isn't the same, etc etc. It's just a different game. That's just something I've personally never put much value into, but to each their own.
NBA is history is littered with teams that went 3-0 or 4-0 vs opponents in the regular season and it meant absolutely nothing come playoff time.
The Thunder were the 11th best defensive team in the league in the regular season, I think we can safely say that valuing that statistic would lead one astray. They're the most equipped team to defend GS in the entire league.
OKC is probably the most physically talented team in the NBA and now all their players are playing at the top of their game, and Donovan seems like an awesome coach. Tough to overcome all that.
GSW didn't even tax their players during the regular season, nobody played a lot of minutes and their top players are all young. To say going for 73 wins is the reason is idiotic. Even if they had taxed their players with huge minutes there is so many days are the first two rounds they would have been able to fully recoperate anyway.
GSW didn't even tax their players during the regular season, nobody played a lot of minutes and their top players are all young. To say going for 73 wins is the reason is idiotic. Even if they had taxed their players with huge minutes there is so many days are the first two rounds they would have been able to fully recoperate anyway.
Come on bro. I know you know sports terminology better than that. It can't be that different on East and West coast. Generally speaking when "matchup" is used in basketball or "mismatch" there is a clear lopsided favorite. When Lebron is being guarded by JJ Redick. Easy mismatch. GSW and OKC team's have been the same for two season. There was no mismatch this season or last season. Its just consistent.
2014-15 season
http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400578810
2015-16 season
http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400828798
GSW had won 5 of 6 games. How is that a bad matchup for your team when you win 5 of the last 6 meetings? Again, plain and simple, the matchup isn't the reason for OKC's 3-1 lead. The relevance of referring to last season is just extending what already happened for this season. Like you said, obviously it does not always matter come playoff time. But regular season meetings is all we have to compare, before now.
I think we're just talking in circles and getting too into semantics. I think you are conflating "matchup well with GS" with "It's a mismatch". Other than that I don't put too much into those regular season meetings, I don't really disagree with anything you say. Obviously sometimes there is relevant info to be pulled from regular season, sometimes there isn't. No 1 size philosophy fits all.
When people say OKC is a bad matchup or matches up well, they just mean they're the best team in the league that has he size, athleticism and versatility to match up with the Warriors on the defensive end. They're the best offensive rebounding team in the league which makes going small lineups harder. They can switch the pick and rolls rather than have to trap, Westbrook at his highest level is as good as you could be guarding Curry and if you're not hitting 3's then those long rebounds off the rim lead to Westbrook in transition and nobody is better than him at that. Defense creating offense.
I don't think people think OKC is LeBron and GS is JJ Redick. Just that in their vastly improved state, they obviously present them some problems that other teams wouldn't be able to.
When people say OKC is a bad matchup or matches up well, they just mean they're the best team in the league that has he size, athleticism and versatility to match up with the Warriors on the defensive end. They're the best offensive rebounding team in the league which makes going small lineups harder. They can switch the pick and rolls rather than have to trap, Westbrook at his highest level is as good as you could be guarding Curry and if you're not hitting 3's then those long rebounds off the rim lead to Westbrook in transition and nobody is better than him at that. Defense creating offense.
I don't think people think OKC is LeBron and GS is JJ Redick. Just that in their vastly improved state, they obviously present them some problems that other teams wouldn't be able to.
Also I didn't realize Draymond was playing as bad as he is.
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