Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson combine for 70 points in Golden State Warriors' Game 6 win

OKLAHOMA CITY >> The Splash Brothers are bringing the Golden State Warriors home for a Gameu20097. And this one was a caonball of a splash.

That’s all you really need to know. Without the incredible long-range bombing of Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry, the Warriors would have been dethroned as NBA champions by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

But goodness gracious, Steph and Klay. They combined for 17 3-point baskets on just 31 shots and 70 points as a tandem to lead the Warriors to a scintillating 108-101 victory over the stued Thunder.

OKC could never pull away, but appeared to have the game fairly well in hand until Thompson and Curry began putting on their aerial show. Curry’s 3-pointer with 2:48 left tied the game at 99-all, and Thompson’s bomb with 1:33 remaining gave them a 104-101 lead, a lead they would never surrender.

Thompson scored 41 points on 14-of-30 shooting and set an NBA playoff record with 11 3-pointers. Curry, after not scoring in the opening quarter, scored 29 with 10 rebounds and nine assists.

After a shaky first half, the Warriors came out firing and actually took an early 54-53 third-quarter lead on a pair of 3-pointers by Thompson and it was a back-and-forth battle for much of the period. With 2½ minutes to go, Golden State trailed by just two, 77-75, but they stalled and Oklahoma City went on a 6-0 run to close the period.

That looked like it might be the back-breaker, particularly when stalwart forward Draymond Green picked up his fifth foul as time was winding down in the fourth quarter. But the Warriors simply wouldn’t die.

Andre Iguodala’s efforts were also critical down the stretch defending Thunder forward Kevin Durant, and Iguodala also made a huge steal of Russell Westbrook with the score tied at 101 that preceded Thompson’s 3-pointer moments later from the wing. Curry took over from there with a driving layup and free throws that salted the game away.

Durant had 29 points for the Thunder while Westbrook had 28. They appeared they had the Warriors on the ropes, but couldn’t put them away, and now it’s back to Oakland for an unenviable Game 7.

Despite looking on the verge of being knocked out in the first half on a couple of occasions, the Warriors managed to hang tough thanks to their 3-point shooting, making 9 of 21 attempts from long distance over the first two quarters while the Thunder were just 2 for 14 from beyond the arc.

But Oklahoma City was lethal inside, with 30 points in the paint against a Warriors team that was forced to play small when center Andrew Bogut was off the floor. The Thunder also took advantage of Golden State’s 10 tuovers for 12 points while committing just three themselves.

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After trailing by just three after the first period, 23-20, despite Curry not scoring a single point, Warriors coach Steve Kerr went to his reserve group that had played so well in Game 5 and it proved to be a disaster. The Thunder went on a 9-0 run, challenging backup center Marreese Speights at the defensive end by ruing a pair of pick-and-rolls with Enes Kanter that netted two buckets, then Durant took it right past Speights to the basket.

The Warriors got just five points from their bench, and those were all from Iguodala. Shaun Livingston and Speights were a combined 0 for 6 during that stretch.

OKC built its lead to as many as 13 points, 41-28, with just 4:53 left in the second quarter, and things were starting to look as grim as they did in Games 3 and 4. But Thompson made three 3-pointers and Curry one to keep the Warriors in the game.