OPINION

Beginning of the year ask anybody, basketball fan or not, they’d probably tell you the Golden State Warriors would be in the NBA Finals. A large percent of those people would also say the Warriors would win the NBA Finals; I know I was one of those people. Now, I’m not so sure.

Led by Steph Curry, the 2016 MVP (not my pick but more on that later), the Warriors crafted the best regular season in NBA history. With a record of 73-9, they bested the previous record of 72-10 by the ’95-’96 Chicago Bulls, a record I thought would never even be in range of being broken.

The Warriors glided into the playoffs, winning their first two series 4-1. They even proved they can compete without Curry, finishing off the Houston Rockets in round one and taking two wins against the Portland Trailblazers without Curry. The best three-point shooter of the year did return however and backed up his unanimous MVP win with a 40 point game and a clutch overtime win.

The Warriors then received what they thought would be a blessing in the Oklahoma City Thunder upsetting the San Antonio Spurs, a thorn in the Warriors side all year. Turns out, the Thunder weren’t just going to roll over and take an L as they stole game one at Golden State.

The Warriors rebounded in game two and dominated the Thunder, playing like the team we saw during the regular season and won 118-91. Now we had a series heading into Oklahoma City.

As you could expect, the crowd at Chesapeake Energy Arena was rowdier than it had been all year, with their Thunder coming to town for the Western Conference Finals. Thriving off the energy of the crowd, the Thunder dismantled the Warriors, taking game three 133-105.

Back to back home games with a 2-1 series lead benefited the Thunder in a major way. They came out firing and put up 30 first quarter points. To match that, they scored 42 second quarter points and never looked back, winning 118-94. Russell Westbrook showed why I had him as my MVP, recording his first triple double of the series.

With a 3-1 series lead, the Thunder look to take a commanding series lead while the Warriors try to keep the series alive. Tune into TNT tonight at 9pm to catch the game.