Western Conference Recaps, April. 4: Stephen Curry, Jordan Poole’s Huge Night Led Golden State Warriors Past Oklahoma City Thunder

The Golden State Warriors have moved to the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference.

The Warriors outscored the Oklahoma City Thunder 67-46 in the second half to grab a 136-125 victory. With Klay Thompson sidelined due to a back injury, Stephen Curry scored 34 points and Jordan Poole had 30.

“It’s fun, this is all what it’s about. We love the competition and even though we’d prefer to be home free in the playoffs right now, this is where we are," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. "Really proud of the guys what they've done here in recent weeks to put ourselves in this position but now we've got to go finish the deal and get into the top six."

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 32 points and Josh Giddey had 15.

OTHER NOTES:

-The Minnesota Timberwolves 107-102 victory against the Brooklyn Nets kept them alive in the play-in tournament. Anthony Edwards led them with 23 points and Karl-Anthony Towns recorded 22 points and 14 rebounds. Spencer Dinwiddie scored 30 points for the Nets and Mikal Bridges had 24.

-The Denver Nuggets’ hope for clinching the Western Conference slowed down. Led by Jalen Green’s 32 points, the Houston Rockets grabbed a 124-103 victory. Kevin Porter finished with 20 points while Alperen Sengun had 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Michael Porter’s 23 points led the Nuggets while Nikola Jokic recorded 14 points and 10 rebounds.

-Desmond Bane scored 30 points to help the Memphis Grizzlies secure a 119-109 victory against the Portland Trail Blazers. Ja Morant finished with 23 points and Luke Kennard had 20. Skylar Mays led the Trail Blazers with 24 points and Shaedon Sharpe finished with 20.

-The Sacramento Kings defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 121-103, clinching the Pacific Division title for the first time since 2003. De’Aaron Fox recorded 23 points for them and Domantas Sabonis had 21. Brandon Ingram’s 22 points led the Pelicans and Trey Murphy had 17.

-LeBron James’ game-clinching layup gave the Los Angeles Lakers a 135-133 overtime victory against the Utah Jazz. He finished the game with 37 points, the most since Feb. 7. Austin Reaves scored 28 while Anthony Davis recorded 21 points and 14 rebounds.

Talen Horton-Tucker and Kelly Olynyk scored 23 points for the Jazz.

-The Phoenix Suns’s 115-94 victory against the San Antonio Spurs helped them clinching a playoff spot. Devin Booker led the way with 27 points and Chris Paul had 22. Kevin Durant scored 18 points while Deandre Ayton recorded 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Rookie Malaki Branham led the Spurs with 21 points and Tre Jones had 20.

Cory Nelson is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He attended Northern Virginia Community College. He can be reached at corymckenzienelson@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @CKenzyNelson. You can also check out his personal blog HERE.