Thunder wallop Warriors to take 2-1 lead in Western final

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Thunder got kicked in the groin, and offered a strong response.

Can the Warriors do the same?

They’ve done it before, and no one sounded panicked in the postgame aftermath, but Sunday night’s 133-105 beat-down at Chesapeake Energy Arena was a grim reminder that this opponent bears little resemblance to the sleepy Rockets or the plucky Trail Blazers.

The Thunder are a legitimate NBA championship contender, and almost everything they did in Game 3 of the Western Conference final went right. They ran with abandon, attacked the rim, got to the free-throw line and shot from long distance better than the team that has made it popular.

For the Warriors it was shocking, and a bit humiliating. They suffered the worst blowout in their past 39 postseason games, dating back to the first round of the 2014 playoffs.

“I think I didn’t have them ready to play, obviously,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said, “and I didn’t think any of our guys competed at that level - not just in terms of how hard we’re playing, but in terms of using our brains and moving the ball and making them work. We didn’t do any of that and we got what we deserved.”

And it was all kick-started, so to speak, by Draymond Green’s right leg, which swung up and into the crotch of Oklahoma City center Steven Adams in the second quarter. Adams went to the floor in pain.

Afterward, Green insisted it was inadvertent.

“Not trying to kick somebody in the midsection,” he said. “Sure he’ll want to have kids one day, I’m not trying to end that on the basketball court. That don’t make sense. I brought the ball over the top this way. He fouled me. My leg went up. I know I’m not strong enough to stop my leg halfway from wherever it was going.”

Green said he didn’t even realize he had hit Adams below the waist for the second time in two games.

“I walked to the three-point line and clapped everybody’s hand,” Green said. “Turned around, he’s on the floor. Boy, I’m like what happened?”

The Oklahoma City crowd could have told him. They chanted “Kick him out!” at Green (and would boo anytime he touched the ball for the rest of the game), and the officials assessed a Flagrant 1 foul.

Before the incident, the Warriors trailed 48-40. Not a big deal for the NBA’s comeback kids. But with the fans in a lather and the Thunder fired up, the score was 72-47 by halftime. The deficit eventually reached 41, and after three quarters Oklahoma City was up 117-80.

“A little break here or there and I thought we had ’em,” Kerr said to open his postgame press conference, injecting a little gallows humor to the scene.

Sunday’s outcome continued a weird trend for the Warriors. In their past 34 postseason contests, they are 2-5 in Game 3s, and 23-4 in all other games. Perhaps that bodes well for Game 4, which is here Tuesday night, but it will be hard to get the stench of Game 3 out of the Warriors’ uniforms.

The Thunder dominated this game in every way. In the first half, before it fully became a laugher, they outrebounded the Warriors 33-19, outshot them 52.3 percent to 34.5 percent and scored 34 points in the paint to Golden State’s 20.

Most glaring was the transition game. The Warriors didn’t particularly have one. Oklahoma City, on the other hand, ran and dunked and then ran and dunked some more.

Lanky forward Kevin Durant scored 33 points on 10-of-15 shooting, nailed all 12 of his free throws and blocked three shots for good measure. His All-Star partner, guard Russell Westbrook, scored 30 points and dished out 12 assists. And just about everyone wound up getting into the act. Guard Andre Roberson was so feeble in Games 1 and 2 that the Warriors frequently opted not to guard him. In Game 3, Roberson made 3 of his 5 3-point attempts.

Stephen Curry led Golden State with 24 points and Klay Thompson added 18, but they combined to hit just 5 of their 19 3-pointers.

The Warriors now find themselves in a touchy position, down 2-1 in a seven-game series. Of course, they have been here before. Last year, they came back from 2-1 deficits to beat the Memphis Grizzlies and the Cleveland Cavaliers (in the NBA Finals).

Been there, done that?

“Yes and no,” center Andrew Bogut said. “It’s a playoff series, and we’ve gotta win one at OKC and we’re OK. But we have a lot of work to do right now to get back in the series. … This season and last season, we haven’t lost wire to wire like this before, where we absolutely… They kicked our ass.”

And in addition to figuring out how to keep Durant and Westbrook out of the paint, and how to rekindle the crisp passing that helped them go 73-9 this season, the Warriors must wait to learn of Green’s fate. The NBA evaluates all flagrant fouls via videotape. The league could bump Green’s to a Flagrant 2 and hit him with a one-game suspension.

Kerr said he’s not only confident the foul won’t be elevated, he thinks it might be rescinded altogether.

Westbrook offered a different opinion. “I haven’t seen it, but honestly, I think it’s intentional,” the guard said. “That’s two times in the last two games. I don’t think you can keep kicking somebody in their private areas.”

Those are sweet words to the Warriors, considering how badly they got theirs kicked in Game 3.

You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter: @Skinny_Post.