Thunder Fall Short in Comeback Against Warriors

After trailing by 20 points in the second quarter, Oklahoma City nearly completed an incredible comeback against Golden State on Monday evening.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were defeated by the Golden State Warriors 128-120 at the Paycom Center on Monday night, falling to 24-26 on the season. 

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way for OKC on offense, pitching in 31 points, seven assists, four rebounds, and three blocks. For the Warriors, Stephen Curry tallied 34 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds. 

Despite missing Lu Dort for the second consecutive game, the Thunder kept pace with Golden State early on, trailing 11-10 after a pair of Gilgeous-Alexander free throws. 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions by the Warriors swiftly gave Golden State a 17-10 advantage and drew a timeout from Oklahoma City head coach Mark Daigneault.    

A triple from Aaron Wiggins momentarily stopped the bleeding, but not before a 10-2 Golden State run that would grant the Warriors a 19-10 lead. The situation would only get worse for Oklahoma City, who shot 8-for-24 in the first quarter. 

The Thunder went into the second period trailing 38-20, with Gilgeous-Alexander finishing 1-of-8 from the field in the first 12 minutes. 

The second quarter proved to be more of the same, as Golden State took a 20 point lead midway through the frame. A few quick buckets from rookie wing Jalen Williams brought the game to 50-34 with four minutes left in the first half, but a triple from Klay Thompson quickly shut down any momentum that OKC was building. 

Rookie big man Jaylin Williams had a few notable possessions on offense, finishing an acrobatic layup and knocking down a shot from beyond the arc. Despite this, the Warriors went into the break with a 63-48 lead, knocking down 12 triples in the first half.

Golden State opened the third quarter on a 6-0 run, giving the visiting team a 21 point lead only three minutes in. Second-year guard Josh Giddey got Oklahoma City on the board with a midrange floater and then dished a pass out to Jaylin Williams who connected on a shot from deep to cut the Warriors lead to 15. 

Moments later, a pair of free throws from Jalen Williams followed by an "and one" from Gilgeous-Alexander brought the Thunder within 11. With 90 seconds left in the third quarter, Tre Mann hit a deep 3-pointer that brought the Thunder within nine.

SGA continued to heat up late in the period, heading into the final frame with 24 points. Veteran big man Mike Muscala nailed a triple at the buzzer to send the game to the fourth quarter with the score 94-85 in favor of Golden State. 

The Thunder opened the period with triples from Isaiah Joe and Gilgeous-Alexander to pull OKC within five. Jalen Williams found the bottom of the net on a step-back 3-pointer following a huge offensive rebound by Kenrich Williams to make the score 100-98 with just over eight minutes left in the game.

Moments later, Gilgeous-Alexander found Jalen Williams under the basket for a layup to make cut the Warriors lead to 109-107. Gilgeous-Alexander drove to the basket to tie the game on the next possession, but couldn't come up with the basket. 

On the other end, Jordan Poole knocked down a triple from the corner to give Golden State a five point advantage. Oklahoma City was unable to overcome the late deficit, falling 128-120. 

The Thunder will play the first of two consecutive games against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, Feb. 1, at 7 P.M. CT in Houston. 

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