The Warriors are still on their heels even after winning Game 5

On one hand, the Golden State Warriors did exactly what they needed to do on Thursday night in Oakland: they survived. The Warriors held the lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder for all but a brief moment and pushed the series back to OKC for a Game 6. When you’re facing elimination, that’s enough. Draymond Green defended well with a few spectacular blocks, Stephen Curry did some Stephen Curry things and the Warriors bench provided a huge boost.

That said, all of that contributed to a win in which OKC was one missed open Kevin Durant three from being in a one-possession game with under a minute left. (That’s a long way of saying the Thunder were down six with an open look to cut it to three, but it’s valid.) Moreover, Golden State had to work just to survive -- at no point during the game did the Warriors look prepared to do what they did to the Thunder in Game 2, or what they did to most teams during the regular season. Nothing looks easy for the Warriors against this OKC team.

It shouldn’t be easy, of course. This is the Western Conference Finals. But we’ve been spoiled by the effortless excellence Golden State has displayed over the course of nearly two years. Rarely does anything look difficult for the Warriors. And here we are, in a place where Golden State is pressing and fighting and flailing (hi Draymond!) just to avoid losing a series in five games.

It doesn’t bode well heading back to Oklahoma City given the way the Thunder worked over the Warriors at home in Games 3 and 4. Golden State pressed and fought and flailed (hello again, Draymond!) in those games, and couldn’t stay within 20 points of the Thunder. The Warriors got a dose of a loud home crowd and the adrenaline of desperation in Game 5, and clawed out a win. The Thunder heard that backing band of cheers and whoops and pounded out two demonstrative victories. Did anything in Game 5 convince you Game 6 would be different than the last time these teams meet in Tornado Alley?

It’s up to Stephen Curry to change fate. It does not appear Green is going to have a monster game in this series. He has no confidence in his jumper -- he took all of two shots outside the restricted area in Game 5 -- and he’s been unable to really do much with Durant when matched up on him. Green can still be effective moving the ball and attacking the rim off the pick-and-roll, and against everyone but Durant, he’s a strong defender. Yet, the so-called second-best Warrior doesn’t look nearly as good as the second-best Thunderer, whichever of the two OKC megastars you imagine that to be.

Klay Thompson is not having fun (not that it ever looks like he’s having fun) and he’s just 13 of 44 (30 percent) from beyond the arc this series. (Westbrook -- one of the worst three-point shooters ever by percentage -- is hitting 34 percent in this series.)

Andrew Bogut was spectacular in Game 5, affecting the action on both ends and helping stanch the Warriors’ gushing rebounding deficit. But he also labored and grimaced through it, and he’s clearly not feeling great. Counting on him to do that again across from a bull like Steven Adams is asking a lot. Festus Ezeli put in good minutes, so perhaps there’s more room for him going ahead if Steve Kerr chooses to stay big. Betting on Marreese Speights following up a strong performance with another one away from home is tossing money into a fire.

Add it all up, and it must be Curry for the Warriors. For how extremely thought-out this Warriors roster is, it still relies on Steph. This is not novel -- every team in the league leans heavily on its best player -- but it’s still the truth. With Curry playing really well -- not perfect, not even good-for-Curry, just really well by the standards of the normal NBA superstar -- the Warriors were able to claw out Game 5. It’s really difficult to see how the Warriors can win this series if either of the next two games feature a subpar Steph.

But if he plays like the two-time MVP he is, if he plays like the best player in the world for two more nights? The Warriors can do this. There’s just about no margin for error, though, which is a strange place to be with this team.

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