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Green, Thunder stun Warriors at buzzer

Jan 22, 2009 - 7:09 AM By Ryan Leong PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Jeff Green's turnaround bank shot as time expired lifted the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 122-121 win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.

His game-winner came after Jamal Crawford had given the Warriors a one-point lead with 1.6 seconds left on a floater after a coast-to coast drive.

"It feels great, we've been playing hard all season, playing against great teams and we've had good players hit tough shots on us and at the last second," Green said. "The Warriors played a great game. Jamal hit a big time shot. We just went down, tried to run our play as good as possible and we got a good look."

Green scored 26 points and rookie guard Russell Westbrook added 20 of his 30 points in the first half for the Thunder, who have won three of their last four games.

"I just told the guys continue to keep their heads in it, continue to stay together, we're going to get better," Thunder interim coach Scott Brooks said. "That's part of what we are right now, we're a team that's going to develop every week, every month. We have a big win tonight, tomorrow we're still going to do things to help us win the next game."

Stephen Jackson scored 29 and Corey Maggette added 26 off the bench for the Warriors, who failed to post their first three-game win streak of the season. Golden State is currently 3-2 on a season-long, seven-game homestand.

"We had won three out of four coming into tonight and we lose by one," Crawford said. "We're right there, we've just got to keep plugging away and I'm sure nobody gives us a chance against Cleveland (on Friday) so everybody probably thought we'd win this game so hopefully we can still go get that one and win one out of two."

With 3:54 remaining in the third quarter, Maggette finished a fast break with a one-handed slam dunk, bringing the crowd to its feet as the Warriors tied the game at 84-84.

Moments later, layups by Kelenna Azubuike and Maggette upped the Warriors' lead to four points. Oklahoma City responded and knotted the contest. A 3-pointer from the right baseline by Anthony Morrow late in the period gave the Warriors a six-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Thunder went on a 7-0 run to start the final quarter. With the game tied at 97-97, Jackson made a reverse layup and 3-pointer to forge a five-point advantage for the Warriors.

With his team trailing by four points, Green made a reverse layup, was fouled and made the free throw to complete the three-point play and it was a one-point game with 6:18 remaining.

Two free throws by Nick Collison gave Oklahoma City a one-point edge with 5:05 left. The Thunder were ahead by four when Jackson fed a beautiful bounce pass from the wing in the paint to Ronny Turiaf for an easy layup.

Collison split a pair of free throws to again make it a three-point cushion with 3:01 left.

The Warriors erased the deficit when Crawford completed a three-point play after a driving layup to tie the game at 116-116.

Moments later, Maggette fouled out with 1:37 left after scoring 26 points and grabbed six rebounds.

"Honestly, this one is a tough one to swallow because the team did a lot of good things and we came up short," Maggette said. "We've just got to regroup and come back with the next game against a tough Cleveland team that's rolling right now but I'm really disappointed today. That's how it is, especially losing with 1.6, its just a tough one."

C.J. Watson made a steal and was corralled by Collison trying to make a layup. Watson made both free throws and Golden State had a 119-118 lead with 1:12 left.

With time winding down, Westbrook made a bank shot to put the Thunder back up by one.

Kevin Durant missed a mid-range jumper that didn't even reach the rim and Crawford ran the length of the floor and made his floater with 1.6 seconds left, setting the stage for Green's heroics.

On the final play, Green quickly got the inbounds pass and threw up a 16-foot shot off the glass for the game-winner. Although officials reviewed the play, the call stood.

"I was just trying to keep my composure," Green said. "That's a lot of time left, one dribble and a pull-up and I just tried to stay with my shot, didn't try to rush it and it went in."