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THE brilliance of Oklahoma City’s dynamic duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook strongly suggests the NBA champion Golden State Warriors are in for a dogfight to clinch the Western Conference Championship.

OKC just had too much dynamite for San Antonio and beating the Spurs in back-to-back road games was shocking, to say the least. San Antonio was a record 40-1 at home through the regular season but lost twice in succession to the Thunder.

After that, winning Game 6 on the road was going to take more than the Spurs had and the Warriors too know they are in for what shapes as a memorable series.

Sure, they cleaned up the regular season battles 3-0, winning at home twice. In its lone trip to Oklahoma City, Golden State delivered a spectacular finish.

The Thunder were ahead by 11 with less than five minutes left in regulation and up by four with 15 seconds remaining in the fourth. They still were ahead by four with 1:41 left in overtime too, before Stephen Curry’s 3-pointer that dropped with 0.6 seconds left gave the Warriors a 121-118 victory.

He made 12 triples that night.

Durant and Westbrook combined to average 61.3 points in the three games, but it still wasn’t enough.

Curry averaged 35 points in the series for Golden State and Klay Thompson  23.7.

Golden State’s pursuit of a second consecutive trip to the NBA Finals is rolling forward and while its arrival at this point is no surprise, the opponent may be.

SPURRED ON: Kevin Durant passes around LeMarcus Aldridge in Game 6. Picture: ALONZO ADAMS

When the Thunder knocked out San Antonio, they looked every bit like title contenders. Miami’s Dwyane Wade called the Thunder “scary” and said this team from OKC is better than the one the Heat beat in the 2012 NBA Finals.

Everyone not named Curry and Thompson v Everyone not named Durant and Westbrook are the key matchups. It’s simplistic to say Curry v Westbrook is the key matchup, or Durant v Thompson.

Superstar scorers will be superstar scorers, and yes, they’ll leave their DNA all over the series. But the place both sides likely see the potential for separation is the third and fourth options.

Serge Ibaka has been consistent for the Thunder and in the Spurs series, Kiwi centre Steven Adams and Andre Roberson came up huge.

For the Warriors, it’s the Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes, Andre Iguodala types who must take pressure off two-time MVP Curry.

The team with the better supporting cast will be the one going to the NBA Finals although the X-factor in this – other than Andrew Bogut’s injury – could be OKC coaching debutante Billy Donovan.

Donovan won two NCAA championships with his Florida Gators, so the fact he can coach really shouldn’t be a surprise.

Throughout the Spurs series, he stayed cool and composed which was absolutely crucial after that potential morale-crushing Game 1 thumping in San Antonio.

Donovan then engineered two road wins which instead crushed the Spurs’ spirit.

This series appears much closer than anticipated.

NBA PLAYOFFS
EASTERN CONFERENCE
SEMI FINAL:
Cleveland 104, Atlanta 93
Cleveland 123, Atlanta 98
Cleveland 121, Atlanta 108
Cleveland 100, Atlanta 99
Cleveland advances 4-0

Miami 102, Toronto 96 in o/t
Miami 92, Toronto 96 in o/t
Miami 91, Toronto 95
Miami 94, Toronto 87 in o/t
Miami 91, Toronto 99
Miami 103, Toronto 91
Miami 89, Toronto 116
Toronto advances 4-3

FIRST ROUND:
Indiana 100, Toronto 90
Indiana 87, Toronto 98
Indiana 85, Toronto 101
Indiana 100, Toronto 83
Indiana 99, Toronto 102
Indiana 101, Toronto 83
Indiana 84, Toronto 89
Toronto advances 4-3

Atlanta 102, Boston 101
Atlanta 89, Boston 72
Atlanta 103, Boston 111
Atlanta 95, Boston 104
Atlanta 110, Boston 84
Atlanta 104, Boston 92
Atlanta advances 4-2

Cleveland 106, Detroit 101
Cleveland 107, Detroit 90
Cleveland 101, Detroit 91
Cleveland 100, Detroit 98
Cleveland advances, 4-0

Miami 123, Charlotte 91
Miami 115, Charlotte 103
Miami 80, Charlotte 96
Miami 85, Charlotte 89
Miami 88, Charlotte 90
Miami 97, Charlotte 90
Miami 106, Charlotte 73
Miami advances 4-3

WESTERN CONFERENCE
SEMI FINALS:
San Antonio 124, Oklahoma 92
San Antonio 97, Oklahoma 98
San Antonio 100, Oklahoma 96
San Antonio 97, Oklahoma 111
San Antonio 91, Oklahoma 95
San Antonio 99, Oklahoma 113
Oklahoma advances 4-2

Golden State 118, Portland 106
Golden State 110, Portland 99
Golden State 108, Portland 120
Golden State 132, Portland 125 in o/t
Golden State 125, Portland 121
Golden State advances 4-1

FIRST ROUND:
Golden State 104, Houston 78
Golden State 115, Houston 106
Golden State 96, Houston 97
Golden State 121, Houston 94
Golden State 114, Houston 81
Golden State advances 4-1

Oklahoma 108, Dallas 70
Oklahoma 84, Dallas 85
Oklahoma 131, Dallas 102
Oklahoma 119, Dallas 108
Oklahoma 118, Dallas 104
Oklahoma advances 4-1

San Antonio 106, Memphis 74
San Antonio 94, Memphis 68
San Antonio 96, Memphis 87
San Antonio 116, Memphis 95
San Antonio advances 4-0

Los Angeles 115, Portland 95
Los Angeles 102, Portland 81
Los Angeles 88, Portland 96
Los Angeles 84, Portland 98
Los Angeles 98, Portland 108
Los Angeles 103, Portland 106
Portland advances 4-2