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The Oklahoma City Thunder will need to regroup quickly after a crushing loss to the Golden State Warriors that forced a Game 7 of the Western Conference finals on Monday night. Klay Thompson scored a game-high 41 points -- setting the NBA playoff record with 11 3-pointers -- to rally the Warriors to a 108-101 victory on the road at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Saturday night to hold off elimination.
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"I should have had at least 13 (threes) because I missed some wide-open looks early," Thompson said after the win that helped the defending champions extend their historic season.
"Feels good to own a record, but it will feel much better if we close them out on Monday."
The Thunder were 12 minutes from the NBA Finals -- they led by eight after three quarters and by seven with six minutes left.
But there was just too much at the end in Game 6 from Thompson and Stephen Curry, who scored 29 points.
Thompson went 11 of 18 from beyond the 3-point line, and his record-setting 10th made 3 was a straightaway 28-footer over Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook that pulled the Warriors within four points with 4 minutes, 57 seconds remaining. Thompson's last 3-pointer was a 25-footer in transition from the right wing that gave Golden State the lead for good with 1:23 remaining.
Thompson scored 19 points in the fourth to carry the 73-win Warriors to a comeback from an eight-point deficit to win for the second straight game after digging themselves a 3-1 deficit.
"Obviously, Klay Thompson was ridiculous," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "I mean, the shooting was some of the most incredible shooting you'll ever see."
When it was all said and done, Curry ran around the court holding up seven fingers to signify the upcoming Game 7.
"All Klay needs is a sliver of daylight," Curry said. "The shots he made tonight were huge, obviously. But they were shots that he had his feet underneath him, and he just had all the confidence in the world. He understood the moment."
Kevin Durant and Westbrook struggled to show any consistent offense in the fourth quarter for the Thunder.
"I felt like we didn't do a great job coming down the stretch," Thunder coach Billy Donovan said, "and I think we've made such great improvements coming down the stretch in terms of just on both offense and defense of doing a better job of executing and that really wasn't -- hasn't been us the last month-and-a-half. I thought we got a little stagnant coming down the stretch."
Durant finished with 29 points on 10-of-31 shooting, while also having some late critical turnovers.
"We've got another game to play. We're excited about that," Durant said after the game. "We get another opportunity. And we can't hang our heads. We've got another game to play, so it's pretty high right now."
Westbrook had 28 points on 10-of-27 shooting, plus nine rebounds and 11 assists.
"Win or go home," Westbrook said. "Simple as that."
