Draymond Green going downhill to the rim typically produces good results. Here, he drives unabated after Waiters and Westbrook blow a coverage. But Durant absolutely smothers his shot at the rim, before capitalizing on the ensuing five-on-four with a pull up three.

Oklahoma City's offense relies heavily on transition opportunities. In transition, the threat of Westbrook and Durant gets magnified. Westbrook is literally a one-man fastbreak, while Durant has mastered the pull up game. Golden State limited live-ball turnovers in both their Game 5 and Game 6 wins. After finishing with 16 steals in Game 4, OKC had only 17 combined in the next two contests.

Defensive Rebounding and Size Mattering

Much of the credit for Oklahoma City's upset over San Antonio was given to their center duo, and rightfully so. The Steven Adams - Enes Kanter lineup was a revelation, and put up absurd rebounding numbers. In Game 5 for example, the Spurs did not record a single defensive rebound in the final 6 minutes of the game, as OKC outscored them 17-8 in that span. It seemed like the series against Golden State could hinge on how they leveraged their size advantage.

Oklahoma City has used their size well against the Warriors, but not in the way many expected. Kanter has been fairly unplayable, with Steve Kerr rushing to sub in the "Death Lineup" whenever he saw Kanter on the floor. Billy Donovan has had no qualms with taking out Kanter, even illegally removing him before he had played a single possession in Game 6.

Instead, OKC has gone small while still maintaining an edge in both height and length. They have leaned on the Westbrook - Waiters - Durant - Roberson - Ibaka unit, which blitzed the legendary death lineup in Games 3 and 4, outscoring them 91-35. Its success also created a bit of a problem. What moniker can be given to a lineup that eclipses death? (Plague lineup? Mega-Death lineup?) This lineup has been used as a counter to Golden State's preferred unit, while OKC has used Adams in a traditional center role.

Across pretty much every lineup, OKC has held an offensive rebounding advantage. This is nothing new – they were league best in ORB% this season. In Game 6, they secured 34% of available offensive boards, right around their mark in the regular season. This might overstate the importance of offensive rebounding in this series, but in every game thus far, the winning team has finished with the higher ORB%.

Andrew Bogut, Home Specialist

Perhaps the most important player in Game 7 (outside of the stars) is the Australian big man. He was Golden State's most fungible starter all season, and might be moved after the season in order to clear cap space. Yet his role has expanded within this series.

Golden State has four centers on its roster, though only three should ever play. Giving Anderson Varejão minutes is perhaps Steve Kerr's worst vice. He is almost guaranteed to be a minus, and even his two or three minutes of run is too much.

And though he is a much better player than Varejao, Marresse Speights is fairly limited himself. He provides almost no rim protection, and is still an inconsistent shooter. But his offensive upside helps Golden State's all-bench lineups tread water, especially given how Shaun Livingston has struggled with OKC's length this series.

For a big-minutes center, Festus Ezeli and Bogut are the only realistic options. Kerr has rarely given Ezeli much of a chance this series, for unknown reasons. Ostensibly, Kerr finds Ezeli's penchant for fouls untenable. But if that's the only reason, why is he willing to play Varejão, who is a magnet for foul calls?

Ezeli's defensive upside is indisputable, and he displayed it during Golden State's rally in Game 2 against Portland. His quickness allows him to contest hand offs 28 feet from the basket, which flummoxed Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. His rim protection numbers were nearly identical to Bogut's in the regular season, and he runs the floor extremely well. He does not have Bogut's passing acumen, but has exhibited finesse when finishing around the rim.

Much of the burden will almost certainly fall upon Bogut in Game 7. His Game 5 performance was masterful, as he finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds, to go along with two blocks and steals each. He did not replicate this on Saturday night, though this was to be expected. For whatever reason, Bogut has not played well on the road since February.

Bogut's rim protection has been sorely needed at times. Westbrook's forays into the paint have often been unchallenged in this series. When OKC spaces out the Death Lineup, Green has late to recover on drives to the rim. It was difficult for him to serve as a rover on Roberson. He could not strike a proper balance between guarding Roberson properly, and feigning coverage to provide help defense.