OAKLAND -– Not the aches, not the pains and not the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Nothing was going to get in the way of Stephen Curry carrying the Warriors to victory Thursday night in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals.
With the Thunder threatening a late comeback, Curry scored 12 points of his team-high 31 points in the final six minutes to preserve a 120-111 victory that staves off elimination.
“We just did what we were supposed to do,” Curry said. “We were supposed to win at home, because we're a team that's only lost two games in the regular season and whatnot. So this is a place we've experienced a lot of winning and we're supposed to take care of games like tonight.
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“There's no real sense of accomplishment because we know what we still have to do going forward. But we did take advantage of the opportunity at home to stay alive, and force Game 6.”
Curry did what he often does. The MVP seized the moment. The Warriors led by as much as 13 in the fourth quarter, but OKC sliced it to five (103-98) on a Kevin Durant 3-pointer with 4:34 left.
Curry came back 25 seconds later to complete a 3-point play. When the Thunder cut the lead to six (107-101, 2:28 left), Curry drained a pair of free throws, and then swiped the ball from Durant and drove in for another layup.
After OKC coach Billy Donovan was whistled for a technical foul, Curry added a free throw that pushed the lead to 112-101 with 1:02 remaining.
Game over.
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“We knew if we didn’t win, we were going home,” Curry said. “There’s no other motivation you need.”
Curry was not asked about his health. Warriors coach Steve Kerr was asked about it and seemed to enjoy the question.
“I thought he looked like 91 percent,” Kerr said, mocking the constant “Steph is hurt” chatter. “It’s just talk. There’s always going to be speculation, but it’s just talk.
“He came out and he played a really good game. That’s all I can tell you. He’s going to compete every night, and I thought he had an excellent night and helped us get it done.”
Never mind, then, that Curry was the last Warrior to emerge from the trainer’s room, more than an hour after the game.
