Warriors hosting Thunder in showdown for West title

oakland, calif.» After a record 73 wins and a memorable Game 6 comeback on the road, the Golden State Warriors’ goal of getting back to the NBA Finals and defending their title comes down to Game 7 at home against the powerful Oklahoma City Thunder.

All along, the Warriors have said the numerous team milestones and personal accomplishments they set in this special season won’t matter a bit unless they repeat as champs.

They need one more victory in the Western Conference finals to become the 10th team in league history to rally from a 3-1 postseason series deficit.

“I’ve learned that our players are tough, they’re mentally tough,” NBA coach of the year Steve Kerr said Sunday, when his Warriors took a day off from film study and practice. “I don’t know if I really learned that. I already knew that. But they’ve firmly confirmed that. It’s been a great comeback. Now we still have to play. We still have another game.”

Kerr just wanted his Warriors to grab back some momentum from Kevin Durant and the Thunder. Now they have it, all right, heading into the decisive game of the Western Conference finals Monday night after winning two straight.

“We got a big one (Saturday night) to stay alive and now we’ve got some momentum. But it can work in reverse,” Kerr said. “One game changes everything, and we’ve got to come out and play our game and play well to finish this series.”

Footnotes.

The Grizzlies announced their hiring of David Fizdale, 41, a firsttime head coach who was a Miami Heat assistant the past eight years . ... According to his agent, New Orleans Pelicans guard Bryce Dejean-Jones, 23, was fatally shot early Saturday on his daughter’s first birthday after kicking down the door of what the player mistakenly thought was his girlfriend’s apartment in Dallas. Steve Kerr has watched his Warriors erase a 3-1 series deficit. Getty Images