Stephen Curry inspires Golden State to victory to keep Western Conference Finals alive

Stephen Curry drives to the basket during Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals. John Mabanglo Corbis / EPA

Stephen Curry scored 31 points as the Golden State Warriors kept their record-setting season alive with a 120-111 win over Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of their Western Conference Finals.

Curry, who has been plagued by injuries throughout the post-season, saved his best game of the series for Thursday night as he also had seven rebounds and six assists.

“We did what we are supposed to the do – win at home,” Curry said.

After a record-setting 73 regular season wins, desperation set in for Golden State on Thursday as they trimmed the Thunder’s lead to 3-2 in the series.

The Warriors have a daunting task ahead of them when the teams square off for Game 6 Saturday in Oklahoma City as just nine NBA teams have rallied from being down 3-1 to win a play-off series.

Game 7, if necessary, would be Monday in Oakland.

“We know they are not going to quit. It is going to be the toughest game of our lives in game six. We got to be ready,” Curry said.

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Andre Iguodala and Harrison Barnes drained three-pointers on consecutive possessions during an eight-point flurry that opened a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter.

Curry went 10-for-10 from the free-throw line as the Warriors overcame a 40-point performance by Thunder star Kevin Durant to keep their hopes of a title repeat alive.

Prior to Thursday’s game, media reports listed Curry as being 70 per cent healthy, saying his injuries were one of the main reasons the Warriors were on the brink of elimination.

Klay Thompson supported Curry with 27 points for the Warriors, who are now 4-1 after losses in the play-offs.

“He came out and played a really good game. He is going to compete every night,” Kerr said of Curry.

The Warriors won despite making just nine of their 24 three-point attempts.

Andrew Bogut tallied 15 points and 14 rebounds, and Draymond Green had an 11-point, 13-rebound double-double performance for the Warriors.

The Warriors led just 81-77 before backup guard Shaun Livingston opened the fourth period with a short jump shot.

Iguodala and Barnes then nailed their three-pointers, opening an 89-77 advantage, Golden State’s largest lead of the game to that point.

Curry’s biggest basket of the night came with the Warriors holding a 103-98 lead with 4.34 to play. He made a driving left-handed floater while being fouled. He converted the three-point play, pushing the lead to eight.

The Golden State’s solid defence took over from there, holding the Thunder without a field goal until a Durant dunk with 56 seconds remaining.

Russell Westbrook finished with 31 points to go with seven rebounds and a team-high eight assists for the Thunder.

Serge Ibaka had 13 points and Steven Adams a team-high 10 rebounds for the Thunder, who were able to eliminated Dallas and San Antonio in earlier series.

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