The Golden State Warriors won their first ever ‘In-Season Tournament’ victory thanks to a late-game heroics from the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) ‘bad boy’ Draymond Green.
Golden State defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 141-139 in a tightly contested game in the first game of the 2023-2024 NBA regular season and in-season tournament at the Paycom Centre in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S., on Thursday (June 4).
The in-season tournament is a cup competition that was introduced for the first time this season and will be played alongside regular-season games without any additional scheduling except for the finals.
It runs from the 4th to the 10th of next month, with teams from the East and West conferences competing in six groups.
The first-place team from each group and two of the remaining second-place teams will advance to the knockout rounds to determine the overall winner.
Golden State and Oklahoma City, drawn side-by-side in Western Conference Group C, battled back and forth from the start.
After finishing the first half 69-67, the teams were tied at 106-106 at the end of the third quarter, and the game remained close until the final minute of regulation.
In the end, Steph Curry hit the game-winning layup with 0.2 seconds left to give Golden State a narrow 141-139 victory.
While Curry was the hero of the game, it was Green who had the most impact in the fourth quarter shootout.
After making a layup and free throw to cut the deficit to 130-133 with four minutes to go, Green immediately responded on the offensive end with a three-pointer by Klay Thompson to tie the game, and then came up big on the defensive end by blocking a layup by Kayson Willis.
But suddenly he seemed to lose his focus, committing an offensive foul and missing a layup, and with the score tied at 137-136 with 33 seconds to go, he was laid out on the court by rookie Chet Holmgren on a one-on-one breakaway after a weak collision.
Green scrambled to his feet and was convinced of an offensive foul, 바카라사이트 but video review ruled a defensive foul and he made two free throws to give Oklahoma City the lead.
But Green immediately responded on offence, delivering an assist that led to a fantastic alley-oop to put the Warriors back in front, 139-138.
Then, on Curry’s game-winning basket, Green again made a huge mistake that could have cost them the game.
After Curry’s layup hit the rim a couple of times and was about to fall in, Green leapt into the air and lost control of his movement, letting his hand lightly touch the rim.
The referees spent several minutes reviewing the play on video and ultimately awarded Curry the basket, giving Golden State the win.
With the game doubling as a regular-season matchup, Golden State (5-1) also extended its winning streak to five games.
Green, who controlled the game down the stretch, had 15 points and five rebounds. Curry was the top scorer for Golden State with 30 points.
Chris Paul also helped Golden State with a steady game, not committing a single turnover while handing out 13 assists.
For Oklahoma City (3-3), Holmgren scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds in front of an uncharacteristically aggressive offence, but the Warriors could not overcome Golden State’s barrier. 온라인카지노사이트