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| Sue Ogrocki/AP |
By Julian Reyes
OKLAHOMA CITY--The Oklahoma City Thunder moved one step away from reaching their first-ever NBA Finals appearance since 2012 after dominating the Golden State Warriors in the Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, 118-94, to take a commanding 3-1 lead at Chesapeake Arena, Wednesday (PH Time).
Coming off a 28-point romp in their previous game, the Thunder proved to be the team that is too much to handle for the Warriors as it dealt the latter its first back-to-back losses of the season.
Oklahoma City tries to eliminate the record-breaking Golden State when they battle at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California for Game 5 on Friday (PH Time).
Russell Westbrook anchored another Thunder's demolition of the woeful Warriors squad as he recorded his first triple-double after tying Magic Johnson's record of 18 in the regular season on 36 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
Former MVP Kevin Durant added a double-double on 26 points and 11 rebounds and was effective in the defensive end after tallying four steals and three blocks.
The Thunder also found an unlikely hero on Andre Roberson as he mustered a career-high 17 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and five steals.
Oklahoma City's big men Serge Ibaka and Steven Adams also chipped in double figures with 17 and 11 points respectively.
They also added a combined 14 rebounds and three rejections.
Number-one-seed Golden State was led by Klay Thompson who scored 19 of his 26 points in the third quarter including five rebounds and three steals.
Unfortunately for the defending champions, the reigning league MVP Stephen Curry continued his shooting woes as he registered only 19 points on 6-of-20 shooting in 39 minutes of stay on court.
Draymond Green, who was consistently booed by the home crowd every time he held the ball, continued to struggle after finishing with only six points on 1-of-7 shooting, 11 rebounds and a dismaying six turnovers.
Golden State's bench failed to create an impact in the game's most decisive part, despite outscoring the Oklahoma City's second unit in the early part of the game, 26-11.
Just like in Game 3 where they made Golden State a totally different team compared to its usual self, the Thunder pulled away midway in the second quarter to outscore the Warriors, 42-27, and registered back-to-back 70+ points outputs in the first half.
But a different story happened in the third frame as Golden State held its ground and leaned on the shooting blitzkrieg of Thompson to mount a comeback and turn the 19-point deficit to only six, 74-80, 4:48 left.
The Thunder were able to stop the Warriors in time as they kept their composure behind Westbrook, Durant and Dion Waiters' timely baskets conversion.
Golden State tried to keep the game close, but Durant sparked a Thunder rally after drilling a backbreaking 25-foot running trey off a Waiters dish.
That shot was followed by a massive 20-6 Oklahoma City run to push the lead back to 23, 114-91, with 3:15 left in the clock.
Golden State's big man Andrew Bogut, along with Thompson and Green, was forced to leave the court as early as second quarter after committing three quick fouls.
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