Warriors clinch NBA playoff spot with 6 1/2 weeks to spare

Hold the phone. It ain’t over until the fat lady sings. The Warriors, and Curry, do not play basketball like we’re used to.

Westbrook and Durant did all they could to stop the red-hot Warriors, but if they can’t even stop them – and both guys had decent nights on the floor – then the Western Conference better gear up. The history of the voting suggests that difference was worth only about 1.4 percent of first-place votes to Curry. Having already broken his own record for 3-pointers in a season (286) in overtime, Curry wasn’t finished.

For those keeping track, that was Curry’s NBA-record tying 12th 3-pointer of the game. In terms of John Hollinger’s game score metric, Curry’s six games since the All-Star break – all on the road, and in nine days with a pair of back-to-backs – have been his second-best stretch, trailing only the first six games of the season. Curry provided the late heroics after sitting out half of the third quarter with a left ankle injury. After a few Thunder possessions, again Steph Curry came in clutch with his ninth three-pointer of the game to cut the Thunder lead to just two points. He missed mere minutes getting the ankle wrapped in the locker room, and just like in the Hollywood movies, he returned to action and led the club form the doldrums of a deficit to an awe-inspiring victory.

The night started out pretty rocky for Golden State, though. He was relegated to a different role as he had a double-double with 14 assists and rebounds. It sent the game to overtime and helped Durant foul out in the first minute of the bonus session.

The Golden State Warriors pushed their historic record to 53-5 on Saturday night with a victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but it was certainly no easy win.

Durant totaled 37 points and 12 rebounds, while Westbrook contributed 26 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds.

“I thought all of the guys really played their hearts out and did a lot of good things”, Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan said. 7 left on the game clock. It’s a curious match-up, because Golden State plays so fluidly as a team and Oklahoma City is so isolation-based, but it makes a little bit of sense.

Also on Saturday, the Portland Trail Blazers saw off the Chicago Bulls 103-95 for their 16th win in 20 games, the Brooklyn Nets trumped the Utah Jazz 98-96 and the Minnesota Timberwolves were 112-110 winners over the New Orleans Pelicans.

OKC led by as many as 12 points in the second half and were in control most of the game. The double-double was his 33rd of the season. John Wall and Bradley Beal will be ready to prove they have star potential.

Warriors: F Kevon Looney and C Festus Ezeli (L knee surgery, not with the team) were placed on the inactive list.