Oklahoma City Beats Golden State

Outside his locker room, first-year Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan received a round of handshakes and hugs for pulling off something no other team has this postseason. The Thunder beat the defending champs at Oracle Arena.

Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Oklahoma City dazzled in the fourth quarter the way the Warriors have done so many times in their record-setting season. They rallied from 14 points down on Monday for a 108-102 victory in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

"You have to have a mindset coming into these kinds of venues. Our guys, I think they understand what they're walking into," Donovan said. "You don't just walk in here and say, 'Oh, everything's going to be OK.' You have to have a mindset to understand. The first thing is to embrace the fact it's going to be hard."

Durant scored 26 points and made a key 17-foot jumper with 30.7 seconds left, while Westbrook scored 24 of his 27 points in the second half. Westbrook also had 12 assists and seven steals in the opener of the Thunder's fourth West finals in six years.

"We just stayed with it on the defensive end, and when we got the shots late in the game, we were able to focus in and knock them down," Durant said. "We're just a resilient group and keep fighting 'til the end."

Game 2 will be Wednesday at Oracle Arena. If this game was any kind of preview of what is coming, this should be a dandy of a series between the NBA's highest-scoring regular-season teams.

Monday, May 16 Scoreboard

Oklahoma City 108, Golden State 102

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS - GAME 1

Tuesday, May 17 Schedule (Time Central)

Toronto at Cleveland, 7:30 p.m.

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS - GAME 1

Wednesday, May 18 Schedule (Time Central)

Oklahoma City at Golden State, 8 p.m.

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS - GAME 2

Thursday, May 19 Schedule (Time Central)

Toronto at Cleveland, 7:30 p.m.

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS - GAME 2