Oklahoma City Thunder beat Golden State Warriors 119 – 116; Monta Ellis’ brilliant 48 goes to waste – NBA Recap
The Oklahoma City Thunder took on Golden State Warriors at the ORACLE Arena for a pulsating game of basketball on Tuesday. The Thunder and the Warriors provided terrific entertainment for 48 minutes as fans were kept at the edge of their seats, with Oklahoma City claiming an important win in the end.
The star of the game was undoubtedly Monta Ellis as the Golden State Warriors’ guard set the court alight with a thrilling display of scoring prowess. Ellis was in the zone tonight as he scored a mammoth 48 points, 18-of-29 from the field and also hauled down 7 rebounds in around 42 minutes on the court.
"Our goal going into the game is to hold Monta Ellis to 50 and he only had 48 so we accomplished two things," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said, highlighting his side’s inability to stop the guard.
"He was outstanding. That's who he is. He's a primetime guy who comes in and plays well. He had it rolling early and often, all the way to the last buzzer. That's what we expect from him. He's an All-Star in my book." Stephen Curry, Golden State’s starting point guard, said about Ellis after the game.
Curry himself had a decent night out, notching up a double-double with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists. Another bright light for the Warriors was the tremendous play of forward David Lee, who ended up with a triple-double at 25 points, 11 boards and 10 assists.
Oklahoma City however were the victors on the night and had the star duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook to thank. Kevin had a team high 33 points to go along with 10 rebounds and 7 assists whereas Russell scored 31 and dished out 7 assists.
James Harden also made an impact off the bench with 19 points and Daequan Cook scored 17.
Golden State aren’t exactly a match for the Thunder, who are sitting atop the Western Conference, but they started off in aggressive fashion, going 8 – 0 before Oklahoma City could begin scoring. OKC soon caught up with the Warriors though and it took some late scoring from the home side to end the quarter ahead at 35 – 29.
The Thunder did a good job of slowing down Golden State’s offence in the second segment and held them to a, comparatively, low 22 points. On the other hand, Oklahoma City netted 30 points, going into half time ahead by 59 – 57.
After the break it was the Warrior’s turn to get ahead again. They were 6 – 3 to start off and soon reeled a 14 – 2 burst that put them in front by double digits. The Thunder weren’t going to take it lying down though and fought back, behind by only 2 points at the end of the quarter.
A nerve wrecking final period saw both teams go toe to toe for the duration, neither able to get a significant advantage. With the clock winding down, Durant banked one in with to put Oklahoma City just ahead. Monta then missed one from beyond the arc and when Westbrook sunk his free throws Golden State knew the game had slipped through their fingers.
It ended 119 – 116.
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