NBA Playoffs: Thunder take commanding 3-1 series lead over Warriors

Good morning. Holy smokes. Good morning. Let’s basketball.

THIS IS HAPPENING: On Monday, the Warriors received salvation from the league office. On Tuesday, the Thunder snatched it away. OKC blitzed Golden State from the start, held on through a few rough patches (including a classic Klay Thompson run) and finished with a 118-94 victory that puts them up 3-1 in the series. Russell Westbrook had 36-11-11. Kevin Durant had 26-11 but also four steals and three blocks. Scary.

There were enough flaws -- turnovers for Westbrook, efficiency for Durant -- that Tuesday’s Game 4 won’t go down as the duo’s time capsule performance. Yet, that only speaks to their excellence, given how incredible they were anyway: Durant scored 26 points with 11 rebounds, with Westbrook notching a 36-11-11 triple-double. The box score is an incomplete facsimile of their total impact. As Durant and Westbrook go, so does Oklahoma City.

How Thunder coach Billy Donovan ever manages to take them off the floor is a testament to the job he’s doing as a coach this series. Durant and Westbrook both played 41 minutes on Tuesday, and even though Donovan played a year in the NBA, he wouldn’t dare compare himself to those two.

Not much went right for the Golden State Warriors in Game 4. They lost the game 118-94 to fall behind 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Things didn’t go much better during the post game session either.

For a brief moment, Klay Thompson found a small positive to take away from the game. Then he realized he confused rebounds for assists and the Warriors’ impressive 40 assists total was actually only 15.

The game turned chippy in the second quarter, with whistle after whistle keeping both teams from getting into a rhythm. With a 48-42 lead, the Thunder once again took a page from Game 3 and demoralized the Warriors to end the half. Thanks to a 24-11 run, they took a 72-53 lead into the third quarter.

Thompson wouldn’t letting the Warriors fold, though. He caught fire in the third, scoring 19 straight for the Warriors to bring them back into the game. They cut the lead to six at one point, and went into the fourth down 12 points despite zero points from Curry in the quarter.

In the latest chapter of this saga, Westbrook kicked out his feet Tuesday night and tripped Green.

It’s a pretty normal play from Westbrook, who often kicks out his legs. Reggie Miller was loving it.

It has been a tough series for Steven Adams. He’s literally been kicked to the ground multiple times. But he keeps fighting and playing hard, and now he’s apparently a quarterback.