The crowd is in hysterics, the Warriors have just reached a goal only achieved by three other teams in the history of basketball, coming back from down three games to one to win a division or conference final series.
The game was won by riding the backs of guards Klay Thompson (6-11) and Curry (7-12), who combined for 13 three pointers and 57 points overall.
“We were not just down 3-1, we got blown out, everything started with game 5,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr postgame. “We reestablished our game. Game 6 was magically, Klay basically put our team on his shoulders.”
The first half was dominated mostly by the Thunder, who controlled the tempo throughout the game, pushing the pace and getting to the Warriors inside. The Thunder outscored the Warriors 22-16 in the paint and outrebounded them 29-24.
However, like in game 6, the Thunder could not separate from the Warriors and held a slim six point lead heading into halftime.
In the second half the Warriors hit their stride offensively. Aided by the Thunder’s inability to grow its lead when it had the chance, the Warriors carried a double-digit lead through the middle of the fourth quarter.
However, the Thunder were not going down without a fight. With 1:40 left in the fourth, Kerr was forced to call a timeout after Durant cut the Warrior lead down to just four points.
“They gave us all that we could handle,” said Warriors guard Shaun Livingston in a postgame interview. “Testing our resilience.”
Curry then answered the bell for the Warriors. He was fouled shooting a three with 1:18 left to play by Serge Ibaka, he nailed all three shots from the line to seal it.
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight,” Curry said in a postgame interview. “For us to overcome that early deficit and claw our way back and the way that we did it, everybody having an impact.”
The Warriors knew before the playoffs that it would not be easy for them to get back to the finals for the second time in a row. In fact, analysts such as Skip Bayless from ESPN counted out the Warriors once they went down 3-1 in this series.
The team knew if they were to reach the pinnacle in back to back seasons they would have to fight the odds and rally together.
“They were counting us out a week ago,” said Warriors center Festus Ezeli in a postgame interview. “If anybody could do it it’s this team, so far we have fought through so many odds to get to this point and we never lost hope and never lost the confidence.”
With the win the Warriors have now defeated the Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers and the Oklahoma City Thunder enroute to their second NBA Finals in a row.
“This whole playoff run has been a roller coaster ride,” Curry said. “We haven’t lost confidence and every game is played with fearlessness.”
The Warriors will face the Cleveland Cavaliers in a rematch of last year’s NBA Finals, but this year the Cavs will boast a stronger and healthier lineup than a year ago.
“We are now four wins away from our goal and that is a pretty big accomplishment,” Curry said.
For the Thunder, they will head home, facing the task of having to get over blowing a 3-1 series lead they could not finish.
“We are all upset, we wanted to play for a championship,” said Kevin Durant in a postgame interview. “Give credit to them, they came out and played, they won the last three games, so give credit to them.”
Durant, now a free agent, will have to answer the tough questions that lie ahead of a long summer that awaits him and the Thunder back in Oklahoma City.
“I am proud that with all we have been through this season that we were able to get this far,” Durant said.
The Warriors now have a quick turnaround. The team has 48 hours to prepare for game one of the NBA finals which begins Thursday night at Oracle Arena.
