Thunder Hang On To Defeat The Warriors 114-108 As They Improve To (4-5) On The Season

The Oklahoma City Thunder came out clicking on all levels against the Golden State Warriors. They recently played each other within the last couple of weeks but this time it was different. The Warriors were without Stephen Curry and Draymond Green as both are nursing injuries. The Thunder have finally found their stride as a unit and have been playing some of the best basketball they’ve played in the early season. The Warriors had no answer for the 3 point ball tonight against the Thunder as they shot 14/30 from the 3 point line. The Thunder ball movement has been a thing of beauty all season long and they capitalized on the Warriors mistakes. The Thunder had a well-balanced attack from the start and didn’t look back. This was a game where the Thunder didn’t have much scoring power from Shai Gilegous-Alexander and Chris Paul but the others stepped up. Shai finished with 12 points on the night and Chris Paul finished with 16 points. The leading scorer for tonight was Danilo Gallinari who finished with 21 points.  Whenever Gallinari gets the ball he’s going to look for that 3 point line and he did just that tonight. The fact that Gallinari is such a threat behind the 3 point line it helps the rest of the team in spacing.

The Thunder had 5 players in double figures tonight against the Warriors which shows that the team is gelling at the right time. The Thunder faced some adversity in this one as D’Angelo Russell was starting to get it going in that 3rd quarter against the Thunder. There were points in the quarter where the Thunder had to double team him and try to make other people beat them. Russell finished the game with 30 points as the Thunder were able to figure him out in that quarter. The Thunder were double-teaming and had Dennis Schröder face guarding Russell denying him the ball. Alec Burks was another player that had himself a night for the Warriors finishing with 23 points. It seemed like every time the Russell got a rest then Burks was able to pick up the load. Overall the Thunder was too much for the Warriors to handle down the stretch. Chris Paul had some veteran plays to attract fouls and he knows how to get to the free-throw line. This Thunder team will try to stay in the win column as they face the Milwaukee Bucks and the reigning MVP Giannis.