Warriors Embarrassed by Thunder On National TV

Feb 6, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Reggie Jackson (15) attempts a shot against Golden State Warriors guard Charles Jenkins (22) and Warriors guard Kent Bazemore (20) during the second half at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Recently, the Warriors have been toying with their fans’ hearts in terms of inconsistency. They’ll lose to the Jazz, but then win against the Wolves to clinch a playoff birth. Celebrations, festivities, and good times all around in the Bay Area!

Then, they come out against the Thunder, in a playoff-type game, and get completely destroyed. The Warriors’ pathetic defense and scrappy offense got them blown out by the best team in the league, a team that they’ve beaten at Oracle before. To quote Kobe Bryant from a few years ago, “(They) wet the bed.”

The Warriors’ terrible defense was an issue, but when they did play good defense, it was cancelled out by a foul call, courtesy of the refs. Not that it was never the right call, but if the Thunder don’t ever go back to the defensive end without points scored, there’s a problem.

Another huge problem for the Warriors was their refusal to run a different play on offense. The Thunder defense took Klay Thompson out of the picture, but forcing him into a miserable 2/10 night, 0/3 from the three point line, and 6 points. When Thompson came off the screen the Thunder immediately had him covered, or knocked the ball out of his hands.

The Warriors weren’t getting anything inside because of all the shot-blockers, and weren’t able to return the favor because Andrew Bogut injured his left ankle after playing just 9 minutes. Being the good shooting team that they are, they needed to hit shots from the outside, if they didn’t get any inside shots. That wasn’t happening either. It was a mess in the second half. After being down just 60-54 at halftime, the Warriors were outscored 36-23 in the third quarter, and it sent fans, like me, into outrage.

It may not seem as bad as it actually was, but the Warriors actually did wet the bed out there, and it was a huge mess. Not only does the loss put the Warriors at a greater risk of falling to the 7th seed, but it also worries many of the fans.

If the Warriors do drop to the 7th seed, they will face either the Thunder or the Spurs. Considering the absence of mental strength and previous games, there is no easy choice, or preference as to who they want to play. They don’t get blown out in San Antonio, but then again, they don’t win. They do, however, get blown out in Oklahoma City. Either series, the Warriors need to get one road win, that’s just the way it is.

In the playoffs, they won’t lose too many at home, but when facing either of these two teams, a road win seems almost impossible.

Four Killers (OKC):

1. Kevin Durant: 31 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists

2. Thabo Sefolosha: 10 points, 3/6 3-pointers, started Thunder breakaway

3. Kevin Martin: 23 points, 8/10 fg’s, 4/5 3-pointers

4. Serge Ibaka: 3 blocks, Russell Westbrook: 2 blocks, Kendrick Perkins: 2 blocks, Kevin Durant: 1 block, Nick Collison: 1 block, Hasheem Thabeet: 1 block