At the Oracle Arena on Saturday (21st February 2009), Golden State Warriors defeated Oklahoma City Thunder by a score of 133-120. This win would be remembered because it was the 1,300th win of Don Nelson, the coach of Golden State Warriors. He is only the 2nd coach in the history of the league to reach this milestone and is now lagging by 32 victories behind the top-ranked coach Lenny Wilkens. This victory was similar to the previous 1,299 triumphs. Nelson’s team did not have a very good defense and was crushed on all boards, but it overcame its opponent by exerting pressure through frenzied offense.
Comparison of play
The Thunder put on a good performance. They shot 52.3 percent and the number of rebounds was 17 more than the Warriors. Jeff Green, the forward, had 6 assists, 15 rebounds and 27 points. Kevin Durrant, another forward, accrued 32 points. Russell Westbrook, the point guard, recorded 11 assists and 31 points. In spite of such a performance from the Thunder, the Warriors could be triumphant as their offense was very powerful and their game was filled with aggression. Eventually, they had 56.3 percent shooting, which is a season high figure. In an attempt to maintain the tempo, the Thunder turned the ball over 23 times. The result was that the Warriors received 30 points and this added fuel to their fast paced approach. Scott Brooks, the Thunder coach, revealed that his team got stuck playing the Warrior’s style. In the first half itself, the Warriors had scored 70 points which was too fast for the Thunder.