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Golden State Warriors shoot past Oklahoma City Thunder, extend West finals

By Dave Del Grande, The Sports Xchange
Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry celebrates a basket against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the fourth period of game 5 of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California on May 26, 2016. The Warriors defeated the Thunder 120-111. Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI
1 of 3 | Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry celebrates a basket against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the fourth period of game 5 of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California on May 26, 2016. The Warriors defeated the Thunder 120-111. Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Golden State Warriors believe their championship team showed up for Game 5 of the Western Conference finals Thursday night.

Now the question is: Does it travel?

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Andre Iguodala and Harrison Barnes bombed in 3-pointers on consecutive possessions during an eight-point flurry that opened a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter, and the Warriors held on from there to stay alive in the NBA playoffs with a 120-111 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"We had great energy and played with great desperation. That's how you have to play in the playoffs," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "We were out of sorts the last two games, and we looked a lot more like ourselves (in Game 5). That's really who we are."

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The victory trimmed Golden State's deficit in the best-of-seven to 3-2, with the series returning to Oklahoma City for another possible close-out game for the Thunder on Saturday night.

"We know what it takes to win on the road," said Warriors power forward Draymond Green, who contributed 11 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots to the win. "We've done it before. We've just got to make sure that we use that experience."

Game 7, if necessary, would be Monday in Oakland.

Stephen Curry poured in 31 points, going 10-for-10 from the free-throw line, as the Warriors overcame a 40-point explosion by Thunder star Kevin Durant to keep alive their hopes of a title repeat.

The Warriors led just 81-77 before backup guard Shaun Livingston opened the fourth quarter with a short jumper.

With Curry, Green and Klay Thompson all on the bench, Iguodala and Barnes then nailed their 3-pointers, opening an 89-77 advantage, Golden State's biggest lead of the game to that point.

"They made those two threes that were huge for them. That was tough," Durant said. "Their bench came in and made shots, made plays for them tonight."

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Led by Marreese Speights' 14 points, the Warriors outscored the Thunder 30-13 off the bench in the game.

"We fought hard tonight, and that's half the battle," Kerr said. "It was a great fight. We had to play a good game to fend them off, and we did. We had contributions up and down the roster."

The advantage reached 13, but power forward Serge Ibaka wouldn't let the Thunder go quietly. He swished a pair of 3-pointers, and when Durant added a third, all of a sudden Golden State's lead was just 103-98 with still 4:34 to go.

Curry then responded with his biggest hoop of the night, a driving left-handed floater on which he was fouled. He converted the three-point play, pushing the lead to eight.

The Golden State defense took it from there, holding the Thunder without a field goal until a Durant dunk with 56.9 seconds left, by which point the Warriors had pulled away into a commanding 112-101 advantage.

"We did what we wanted to do," Kerr said. "We've got some momentum now, and we've got to take it to Oklahoma City."

Thompson overcame 2-for-9 shooting on 3-pointers to back Curry with 27 points for the Warriors, who are now 4-1 after losses this postseason.

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The Warriors won despite making just nine of their 24 3-point attempts.

Andrew Bogut had 15 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, and Iguodala finished with eight points and a team-high eight assists off the bench for the Warriors.

The Warriors shot 47.1 percent for the game to 42.9 percent for Oklahoma City. Golden State battled the Thunder even on the boards, 45-45.

"Big fella was amazing tonight on both ends of the floor," Green said of Bogut. "If we're going to come back and win this series, like we plan on doing, we need him to continue playing that way, which I have no doubt in my mind that he will."

Durant's 40 points came on 12-for-31 shooting. Like Curry, he did serious damage at the free-throw line, going 13-for-13.

Russell Westbrook backed Durant with 31 points to go with seven rebounds and a team-high eight assists.

Ibaka had 13 points and Steven Adams a team-high 10 rebounds for the Thunder, who were able to eliminate the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs in earlier series at the first opportunity.

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The Thunder made 13 of their 30 3-point attempts, outscoring the Warriors 39-27 from beyond the arc.

Golden State offset Oklahoma City's advantage on from long distance with a 31-20 edge on free-throw points, which didn't sit well with Thunder coach Billy Donovan. The Warriors attempted 34 foul shots to the Thunder's 24.

"The difference in the game was the fact that they went to the free-throw line 34 times. That was something that was very, very difficult to overcome," Donovan said. "Certainly the discrepancy tonight for free throws, for whatever reason, that was really, to me, the difference in the game."

NOTES: The 31 free throws made by the Warriors were their most this postseason. ... The home team has outscored the visitors 114-72 from the free-throw line in the past four games of the series, getting a 139-114 advantage in attempts. ... Warriors PF Draymond Green and Thunder coach Billy Donovan got technical fouls in the game, both for disputing foul calls. ... The Warriors are the 233rd team in NBA history to fall behind 3-1 in a best-of-seven playoff series. Only nine have rebounded to win the series. ... The loss snapped a five-game Thunder winning streak in close-out games, dating back to Game 5 of the first round in 2013 against the Houston Rockets, a game Oklahoma City played without star PG Russell Westbrook. ... Earlier in the day, the NBA announced that Westbrook and Warriors PG Stephen Curry made the All-NBA first team. Oklahoma City also was represented on the second team by F Kevin Durant, while Golden State also placed PF Draymond Green on the second team and SG Klay Thompson on the third team.

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