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The Oklahoma City Thunder did something to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night that had not been done in over a half-decade.
In their 125-105 drubbing of the Warriors at Oracle Arena, the Thunder never trailed. Not even once. There has not been a Warriors home game where Golden State has not at any point led in the game for quite a long time, per Elias Sports Bureau.
Golden State trailed by 12 points after the first quarter and never got as close as 10 points the rest of the way. Tuesday’s game marked the first time in the last six seasons that the Warriors failed to lead at any point of a game on their home court; Golden State has played 275 games over that span in Oakland including the postseason.
The Elias statistic says two things. One, the Warriors had an incredibly off night. They shot only 27 percent from the 3-point range, and each starter was at least a minus-11 while on the floor.
Two, this shows the potential of the Thunder. Paul George and Russell Westbrook combined for 72 points on Tuesday. Carmelo Anthony didn't even score and had to leave the game because of an ankle injury.
And yet, the Thunder still found a way to trounce the best team in the NBA. That is saying something.
Records are meant to be broken. The Warriors have had a long run of success over the past six years, a run that included Mark Jackson as their head coach.
But Golden State has been mentally out of it recently, and the Thunder had just four in a row. So something had to give at some point.
