Thunder’s big guns are spiked in Game 2 loss to Golden State

The murmurs started any time the hulking Enes Kanter stepped out to defend Stephen Curry, fans inside Oracle Arena anticipating what was probably going to happen next.

Things played out as expected late in the first quarter Wednesday night. Curry used a crossover dribble to free himself from Kanter’s long reach, pulling up for a three-pointer that extended the Golden State Warriors’ lead.

It was hardly the only way the Oklahoma City Thunder big men, who had been so dominant in the second half of the series opener, were roundly beaten in their team’s 118-91 Game 2 defeat.

Golden State’s Draymond Green made a three-pointer over Thunder center Steven Adams in the game’s opening minutes and jabbered at the 7-footer on his way back up the court.

Adams could have used a PPO plan in the first half after sustaining a couple of gruesome body blows. Golden State’s Festus Ezeli landed squarely on Adams’ lower back while fighting for a rebound, forcing Adams to briefly return to the locker room.

Adams later absorbed a blow to the groin from Green, who added insult to injury when he made a layup on the play and commenced another one-way conversation on his way back up the court.

More troublesome for the Thunder than a couple of clunky defensive sequences was their sudden rebounding deficiency. They gave up nine offensive rebounds in the first half alone. Golden State won the final rebounding tally, 45-36, which qualified as a surprise given the Warriors had not out rebounded the Thunder in any game since February 2011.

“They were just the aggressors,” Adams, who had 10 rebounds and nine points, said after the game.

Said Green: “You just got to hit bodies. When the shot goes up, you can’t be watching, looking for the rebound.”

The lack of production from Oklahoma City’s big men was magnified by uneven performances from Thunder stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Durant scored 29 points but committed eight turnovers and scored only six points in the second half. Westbrook had 16 points and 12 rebounds but made only five of 14 shots, never stringing together the kind of scoring spree that propelled his team in the series opener.

Durant’s turnovers were largely a function of being the focus of the Warriors’ defense.

“They were sending three guys, I was trying to make the right pass,” Durant said. “I was turning the ball over playing the crowd. So maybe I just got to shoot over three people.”

With so much of Golden State’s defensive resources committed to Durant and Westbrook, the Thunder’s big men will have to play better as a series tied at one game apiece shifts to Oklahoma City for Game 3 on Sunday.

Kanter has been abysmal defensively in both games but helped Oklahoma City’s front line amass a decisive rebounding edge in the series opener. Adams was a plus-19 in that game, his 16 points and 12 rebounds complemented by two blocks and a flurry of altered shots.

“Everybody not named K.D. and Russ had a pretty solid impact on the game in Game 1, which was the difference,” said Curry, who left the arena late Wednesday night with his right elbow heavily wrapped after sustaining a large welt during an awkward fall in the first half. The Warriors did not practice Thursday or hold any media availability.

Curry said he was unsure whether he would need to have fluid drained from the elbow before Game 3 but expected to be fine regardless.

Whether Oklahoma City is OK will largely hinge on whether Adams and Kanter can bounce back from the bruised psyche of having been so badly outplayed.

Follow Ben Bolch on Twitter: @latbbolch