Steph Curry scores 38 points as Warriors dominate the Thunder

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At the Paycom Center in downtown Oklahoma City, the Warriors defeated the Thunder 128-120 despite a late scare. After the Thunder closed to within two points in the fourth quarter after the Warriors held a comfortable double-digit lead during the first half and the majority of the third quarter.

Stephen Curry scored a game-high 38 points to take the lead. Klay Thompson scored 28 points, while Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins each chipped in with 15.

 

The Warriors had a field-goal percentage of 51.1, including 42.6 percent from beyond the arc.

Following its third straight victory and the opener of a three-game road trip in the Western Conference, Golden State made the following three observations:

Steph occurs

Curry has played in a few memorable games for Oklahoma City, maybe most famously his “double-bang” 35-footer that won the game in February 2016. On this particular night, Curry was outstanding.

Not just the 38 points on 12-of-20 shooting, including 8 of 14 from beyond the arc, were involved. There were the eight rebounds, the blocked shot, the plus-17 over the course of 37 minutes, and the 12 assists.

 

With 2:35 left, he hit a 3-pointer to force an OKC timeout and restart the sluggish Golden State offensive. Beyond those unimportant elements, Curry was a picture of poise and restraint. The Warriors seemed to rule the building while he was on the floor.

On a night when he beat Wilt Chamberlain to become the all-time club leader in made field goals, Curry was especially important in the fourth quarter, practically sending the Thunder to sleep.

Problematic were non-Steph minutes

Curry received his customary rest to start the fourth quarter as the Warriors established a 94-85 lead. But he only received a four-minute break instead of the customary six.

The reason for this is that with 8:22 left in the fourth, the Thunder used a 13-6 run to close the gap to 100-98.

Curry had to leave early as a result of that. Kerr gave this game top attention because the team would soon play the surging Timberwolves (11-4 in their past 15 games) and the conference-leading Nuggets on the road.

Returning to Warriors basketball’s past

The Warriors are reacquainting themselves with the idea of effective passing after failing to accumulate at least their customary 30 assists in four straight games this month.

With 15 assists in the first quarter alone, a season high for any period, they wasted no time in dominating the Thunder, leading 38-20 at the half. Golden State totaled 37 assists for the game.

This comes after he recorded 40 assists in a victory over the Raptors last Friday and 33 in a win over the Grizzlies last Wednesday. 36.7 assists per game on average over the previous three contests.