Warriors seize momentum heading into Game 7 against Thunder

Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson rejects a shot by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook in the fourth quarter of Game 6.

By Ben Bolch

May 29, 2016 4:01 PM PT

Reporting from Oakland — The acoustics inside Chesapeake Energy Arena went from jumbo jet on takeoff to prairie at midnight. Fans who had been screaming only a few minutes earlier were now roaring through the exits, leaving only a throng of fans cloaked in the colors of the visiting team.

As the Golden State Warriors loyalists gathered in a corner of the arena around TNT analysts dissecting a wild, wild finish in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals, one word repeatedly pierced the otherwise deadened arena.

“Warriors! Warriors! Warriors!”

A series that is tied at three games apiece heading into the deciding Game 7 on Monday evening at Oracle Arena felt like it was tilting heavily in favor of the Warriors after they completed an improbable comeback against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Golden State’s Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry kept making three-pointers and the Thunder kept giving the ball back to the Warriors, six turnovers in the final three minutes leading to a loss in a game Oklahoma City had led most of the way.

The decibel level only figures to rise for the defending NBA champions back on their home court after two consecutive victories pushed them to the brink of another appearance in the NBA Finals to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Meanwhile, the noise about Thunder star Kevin Durant’s looming free agency could also soar to uncomfortable levels. Did he walk off the court inside his home arena for the final time in what would have been a regrettable ending at a place where he had thrilled so many for so long? Would he want to come back should Oklahoma City falter again Monday, marking the latest in a string of playoff disappointments?

“We can’t hang our heads,” Durant said afterward. “We’ve got another game to play.”

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That game will remain in this series instead of the NBA Finals after Durant and teammate Russell Westbrook — who had combined for zero turnovers in the first half — made mistake after mistake in the final minutes.

An errant Durant pass was intercepted. Westbrook lost the ball off his foot out of bounds. Westbrook had the ball stripped. Durant had another pass stolen. A Westbrook inbounds pass was intercepted. Durant lost the ball.

The Warriors compounded the Thunder’s blunders with a barrage of three-pointers. Thompson and Curry combined to make seven of 10 three-pointers over the final 12 minutes, with Thompson making five of his playoff-record 11 three-pointers while playing the entire fourth quarter. Thompson finished with a career playoff-high 41 points.

An illegal screen on Golden State’s Harrison Barnes even went the Warriors’ way, the NBA acknowledging Sunday that Barnes had improperly extended his arms after setting a screen on Westbrook with 23 seconds left. Curry went on to score on a layup after the screen, extending Golden State’s lead to five points.

Thompson said Curry had told him before the quarter to “put on a show out there and have fun,” and Thompson complied by hoisting one of his shots 28 feet from the basket. It was good.

“That’s the beauty of Steph and Klay,” Warriors Coach Steve Kerr said. “They kind of walk that fine line between lethal and crazy, and we have to live with some of the crazy shots, some crazy misses because they make more than their fair share.”

Things figure to get even more outrageous Monday. The Warriors have not played in a Game 7 since the first round in 2014, and that didn’t go so well, the Clippers closing them out at Staples Center. They haven’t lost a playoff series since.

“We have one more opportunity to impose our will in this series,” Curry said, “and that’s what we want to do.”

Kerr said the game couldn’t be any more pressure-packed than what his team just endured. The Warriors have won twice while facing elimination and have shifted the weight of the basketball world back onto the Thunder, who will try to avoid becoming the 10th team in NBA history to blow a 3-1 advantage in a playoff series.

Not that Golden State expects the adulation that is sure to greet them on their home court to carry them to victory.

“Our crowd’s not going to be enough,” Kerr said. “They’ll help, but we’ve got to play a great game.”

Said Golden State’s Draymond Green: “It will be the hardest game of our lives. It will be way harder than this game. Going back home, people think it is done. It will be way harder.”

Long after Thompson’s record-setting performance had extended the Warriors’ season, he allowed himself a rare smile. Heading home with at least one more game to play triggered some emotion from a normally stoic player.

“Feels good to own a record,” Thompson said, “but it will feel much better if we close them out on Monday.”

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Twitter: @latbbolch