Down by 14 in the fourth quarter in Golden State and a day after losing to the Clippers in LA, you would be forgiven for thinking the game was over for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
There was relentless energy between the two sides as they played to a 62-62 tie at halftime.
There were 16 lead changes, nine ties and countless breath taking shots. Neither team led by more than seven until the Warriors began to pull away late in the fourth quarter.
It appeared the match was over for the Thunder.
To make things more difficult for the Thunder, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook sat much of the fourth quarter due to foul trouble.
Somehow the Thunder clawed their way back.
Or did the Warriors allow them to come back?
This writer felt the Warriors deserved to lose when Westbrook hit a three to take a 115-114 lead with 2.3 seconds remaining.
There's no way a home team should surrender a 14 point lead at home against a team that played the night before.
It would have been easy for the Warriors to start self-victimising themselves.
But credit where credit is due, Andre Iguodala's baseline fadeaway as time expired to win the game was an incredible moment for a building championship franchise.
"That last timeout, it was pretty dark in that huddle," Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. "You look up and you say, `How did they climb all the way back? How?' You start beating yourself up. That's when you have a moment. They looked at each other and realized there is still time left and we can execute because we work on it every day."
It is a special ability to look forward in trying to make the best of any opportunity.
Lesser teams would have shrunk but the Warriors showed they are ready to grow towards championship aspirations.
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