That's all you really need to know. Without the incredible long-range bombing of Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry, the Warriors would have been dethroned as NBA champions by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

But Curry and Thompson combined for 17 three-point baskets on just 31 shots and 70 points as a tandem to lead the Warriors to a scintillating 108-101 victory over the stunned Thunder.

Oklahoma City could never pull away, but appeared to have the game fairly well in hand until Thompson and Curry began putting on their aerial show. Curry's three-pointer with 2:48 left tied the score at 99-99, and Thompson's three with 1:33 remaining gave them a 104-101 advantage, a lead they would never surrender.

Thompson scored 41 points on 14 of 30 shooting and set an NBA playoff record with 11 three-pointers. Curry, after not scoring in the opening quarter, scored 29 with 10 rebounds and nine assists.

After a shaky first half, the Warriors came out firing and actually took a 54-53 third-quarter lead on two three-pointers by Thompson and it was a back-and-forth battle for much of the period. With two minutes to go, Golden State trailed 77-75, but Oklahoma City went on a 6-0 run to close the period.

That looked like it might be the back-breaker, particularly when stalwart forward Draymond Green picked up his fifth foul. But the Warriors simply wouldn't die.

Andre Iguodala's efforts were crucial down the stretch defending Thunder forward Kevin Durant, and Iguodala also made a huge steal of Westbrook with the score 101-101 that preceded Thompson's three-pointer moments later from the wing. Curry took over from there with a driving layup and free throws that salted the game away.

Durant had 29 points for the Thunder and Westbrook had 28. They appeared to have the Warriors on the ropes, but couldn't put them away, and now it's back to Oakland for an unenviable game seven.

Despite looking on the verge of being knocked out in the first half on a couple of occasions, the Warriors managed to hang tough thanks to their three-point shooting, making nine of 21 attempts from long distance over the first two quarters while the Thunder were just two for 14 from beyond the arc.

But Oklahoma City were lethal inside, with 30 points in the paint against a Warriors team that was forced to play small when centre Andrew Bogut was off the floor. The Thunder also took advantage of Golden State's 10 turnovers for 12 points while committing just three themselves.

After trailing 23-20 after the first period despite Curry not scoring, Kerr went to his reserve group that had played so well in game five and it proved to be a disaster. The Thunder went on a 9-0 run, challenging backup centre Marreese Speights at the defensive end by running two pick-and-rolls with Enes Kanter that netted two baskets, then Durant took it right past Speights to the basket.

The Warriors got only five points from their bench, and those were all from Iguodala. Shaun Livingston and Speights were a combined 0 for 6 during that stretch.

Oklahoma City built its lead to as many as 13 points, 41-28, with just 4:53 left in the second quarter, and things were starting to look as grim as they did in Games 3 and 4. But Thompson made three three-pointers and Curry one to keep the Warriors in the game.

MCT