Warriors 121 - 118 Thunder
Final - OT
  for this game

Warriors-Thunder Preview

Feb 27, 2016 - 5:40 AM Oklahoma City could be the ultimate finale to Golden State's lengthy road trip. The heavyweight matchup might serve as a preview to the Western Conference final many want to see, and the Warriors could start the progression toward that showdown by clinching the league's first playoff spot.

Bear in mind, there are still more than six weeks to play in the regular season.

Stephen Curry and the Warriors will try to remain on record pace by closing a seven-game trip Saturday night with only their second road win in the last seven-plus years against the struggling Thunder.

The Warriors (52-5) hold the best record in NBA history through 57 games to remain one ahead of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls' pace in their record 72-10 season. Golden State remains on track to top that mark despite a stretch of 16 of 23 games away from home since Jan. 5.

The Warriors are 20-3 in that span and 5-1 on their current trip. They have won four straight since returning from the All-Star break with a 137-105 loss at Portland on Feb. 19 - with the latest victory coming in more typical fashion following an unfamiliar stretch of close games.

After tight wins over the Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta and Miami, the Warriors blew out Orlando 130-114 on Thursday behind another record-breaking performance from Curry. The reigning MVP drained 10 of 15 3-pointers, including one from half court to close the third quarter, and finished 20 of 27 overall for 51 points.

Curry broke Kyle Korver's record with his 128th straight game with a 3, upping his season total to 276 - just 10 shy of the record he set last season.

''I don't know that the record is that significant because it's so simple for him," coach Steve Kerr said. "His 3-point shot is like a 2-point shot. It's what he does.''

Only seven times in NBA history has a player scored 50-plus points and made at least 10 3-pointers. Curry has four of them, two coming this season. He became the first player with three 50-point games in a season since LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in 2008-09.

The latest helped the Warriors improve to 28-5 away from home, matching their franchise record for road victories set last season. Golden State has won each of its 24 games at Oracle Arena, where it plays 17 of its final 24 after Saturday.

The Thunder (41-17) have won 11 of 12 in this series in Oklahoma City, but the Warriors have taken four of the last five meetings overall - including a 116-108 victory on Feb. 6 in Oakland. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 67 points, while Curry had 26 and 10 assists.

While Golden State is 37-4 when Curry scores at least 25 points, the Thunder are only 9-9 when Durant and Westbrook each reach that mark.

After winning 14 of 16 games from Jan. 12-Feb. 11, the Thunder have dropped three of their last four - including consecutive home games to Indiana and Cleveland last weekend. Westbrook poured in 44 points on Thursday in New Orleans and Durant added 32, but Oklahoma City still fell 123-119 after allowing the Pelicans to shoot 52.2 percent.

''They did whatever they wanted and we didn't show any resistance,'' Durant said. ''They got confidence. ... We didn't help (defensively) as much as we should have and that caused us to be in scramble mode.''

Things will only get tougher defensively as Oklahoma City follows a matchup with the NBA's top scoring team (115.3 points per game) with games against Sacramento (107.1), the Clippers (105.0) and the Warriors again next week.

The final meeting of this three-game season series is Thursday in Oakland.






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