The Thunder and the Warriors have already crossed swords four times since the start of the season. The Californians won the first duel, before losing three times in a row, the last of which last week, in overtime.
Steve Kerr's troops do not hesitate to praise the second best team in the Western Conference, behind Minnesota, which had won only 24 games in 2021/22, when the Warriors were at the top of the league.
“They have their own style, centered around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his game. He controls the tempo, takes the shots he wants,” analyzes Stephen Curry for The Oklahoman. “They have players who are comfortable with the ball, to make the play or to finish. They therefore pose problems because if we are focused on Shai, someone else can then play the game. It is their identity and it works. Very good even this season. »
A good architect, a good coach, a good group and a star
With his 30.5 points average, the Canadian is obviously the leader of this team, but not its only danger. Chet Holmgren is also praised by Draymond Green and the Warriors recently.
“They have a hell of a leader in SGA, who was not on the All-NBA first team last season by chance,” ensures the interior. “Holmgren can become a very important player. Not forgetting Jalen Williams, one of the most impressive ball-in-hand players in the league. »
With so many qualities in the group, Oklahoma City could only shine according to Steve Kerr, far from being surprised by the recent performances of the franchise.
“It’s not a surprise to me at all. We saw them coming last season,” relates the Warriors coach. “Sam Presti did a remarkable job at the Draft and Mark Daigneault is a very good coach. Shai is an unstoppable player and they have a great squad around him. It's a hell of a team. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | 20 | 35.0 | 54.4 | 34.8 | 91.4 | 0.9 | 4.7 | 5.6 | 6.2 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 30.5 |
| Jalen Williams | 18 | 33.1 | 51.7 | 36.5 | 87.3 | 0.3 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 3.0 | 17.9 |
| Chet Holmgren | 21 | 30.0 | 51.8 | 37.1 | 87.8 | 1.7 | 6.1 | 7.8 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 17.1 |
| Josh Giddey | 21 | 26.1 | 41.6 | 30.2 | 77.8 | 1.5 | 4.3 | 5.8 | 4.2 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 11.7 |
| Luguentz Dort | 21 | 28.2 | 42.9 | 37.9 | 82.7 | 1.3 | 2.8 | 4.1 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 3.0 | 10.3 |
| Isaiah Joe | 21 | 20.6 | 44.4 | 44.2 | 85.2 | 0.1 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 10.0 |
| Cason Wallace | 21 | 22.2 | 59.8 | 52.3 | 80.0 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 7.5 |
| Kenrich Williams | 11 | 15.8 | 52.2 | 45.5 | 30.0 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 2.0 | 5.5 |
| Aaron Wiggins | 19 | 12.5 | 62.7 | 45.5 | 71.4 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 5.2 |
| Tre Mann | 7 | 10.2 | 53.8 | 41.7 | 100.0 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 4.9 |
| Davis Bertans | 7 | 8.2 | 37.5 | 40.0 | 93.3 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 4.6 |
| Jaylin Williams | 16 | 12.9 | 35.5 | 32.4 | 90.0 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 4.1 |
| Vasilije Micic | 8 | 12.3 | 37.5 | 35.7 | 66.7 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 2.8 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 3.4 |
| Ousmane Dieng | 12 | 10.2 | 35.1 | 26.9 | 75.0 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 3.0 |
| Lindy Waters III | 8 | 7.7 | 44.4 | 41.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 2.9 |
| Olivier Sarr | 5 | 10.8 | 50.0 | 66.7 | 66.7 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.4 |
| Aleksej Pokusevski | 6 | 5.7 | 22.2 | 16.7 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 |
| Keyontae Johnson | 1 | 5.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
