Durant, Westbrook outduel Curry, Thompson
The end result was a classic Western (Conference finals) shootout, with Oklahoma City pulling out a 108-102 victory on Golden State’s home court.
There were lots of shots fired in Game 1 of the series, some hitting, a lot missing.
[...] the Oklahoma Kids were left standing.
The Splash Brothers were lying in the road.
For much of the contest, it looked like Curry and Thompson would prevail.
Westbrook, on the other hand, had a terrible start, missing 10 of his first 11 shots.
[...] OKC’s stars wouldn’t go away, hitting big shots and getting to the foul line down the stretch.
“Both of those guys, they depend on the free-throw line to get them going, and any time you give the scorer free points like that, it just gets them going on the offensive end,” said Warriors guard Shaun Livingston.
Conversely, Curry and Thompson couldn’t deliver in the final minutes.
Westbrook (27) and Durant (26) combined for 53 points, both posting plus-minus differentials of plus-8.
[...] the Warriors’ stars were outshined (and outplayed) by Durant and Westbrook in Game 1.