3 things to know about Warriors-Thunder

The Western Conference Finals pits two heavyweight contenders against each other.

In one corner stands the Golden State Warriors, a 73-win juggernaut armed with the two-time MVP, a defensive player of the year runner-up, another All-Star, and the coach of the year.

In the other corner, there's the Oklahoma City Thunder. Led by two top-five players, the Thunder took down the mighty San Antonio Spurs and are in the midst of a furious push to claim their first elusive title.

Here are three things you need to know about Warriors-Thunder:

Unfair fight: Westbrook vs. Curry

Stylistically, there aren't two point guards more diametrically opposite than Russell Westbrook and Stephen Curry.

Curry will keep the jumpy Westbrook on his toes at all times. Defenses can't afford Curry any airspace to fire the jumper, and the Warriors have a million actions in their playbook to get Curry coming around screens or darting backdoor.

Given his tendency to space out, and his penchant for gambling in passing lanes, Curry figures to be a nightmare cover for Westbrook. "Chef" Curry cooked Westbrook to the tune of 35 points per game in the regular season while nailing nearly half of his 3-point tries. Westbrook has to play disciplined defense or he'll be burned.

Remember: Curry is dangerous from everywhere.

It should be just as much of a mismatch on the other end, with Westbrook being far too powerful for Curry to handle. But the Warriors will likely hide Curry on Andre Roberson or Dion Waiters while Klay Thompson or Shaun Livingston wrangles Westbrook.

That leaves Westbrook with the double whammy of running the offense on one end, while also chasing the league's most deadly scorer. That's a handful for anyone - even an Energizer bunny like Westbrook.

Meanwhile, Curry gets to chill out and liberally supply help defense because the Thunder don't have a third threat in the backcourt to punish Curry. That's where Reggie Jackson or James Harden would have helped.

Durant is unstoppable

The Warriors are uniquely built to stop wing scorers and they have the pelts of LeBron James and Harden to prove it.

But the "Durantula" is an entirely different animal.

The Thunder have shuffled through their Rolodex of rangy defenders but have yet to find something that works against Kevin Durant, who dropped 36.3 points, 12 rebounds, and 6.3 assists on the Warriors this season.

The Warriors were able to corral Harden because Iguodala matched him for size and played carefully to avoid fouling. Against James, Iguodala gave up size but he allowed him to shoot in order to guard the drive. None of that truly applies to Durant, who's too big for Iguodala to body, too good of a shooter to sag, and too efficient of a driver to not send help.

Draymond Green is another option but he's overmatched against Durant on the perimeter, plus he'll be needed on the glass to battle the Thunder's bigs for rebounds.

The only weakness in Durant's game is he can get turnover prone if he's operating off the dribble, so the Warriors could send help and get hands in passing lanes. But sending help of any kind will leave the Warriors susceptible to conceding offensive rebounds to the Thunder's massive frontline.

Bullyball vs. Smallball

The Thunder have never wavered from their belief that size wins in basketball. The Warriors, meanwhile, caused a paradigm shift and ushered in the pace-and-space era.

All season, teams have been unable to handle the Warriors' smallball lineup with Green at center flanked by four wings. That unit outscored opponents by 43.7 points per 100 possessions and most of those minutes came in crunch time.

But if there's one area in which the Warriors don't excel, it's on the glass where they snagged 71.6 percent of available defensive rebounds. That's a decent mark, but the Thunder are the NBA's best rebounding team.

Think of it this way: The Thunder could play three near seven-footers Enes Kanter, Steven Adams, and Durant while the Warriors's lone big stands at 6-foot-7. Something has to give.

For the Warriors, downsizing means needing extra help on the glass and more diligent help defense. But they're used to being small, and they even the possessions battle by swarming and generating steals.

Conversely, the Thunder have to be careful that a huge lineup doesn't offset floor balance. Hunting for offensive rebounds could activate the Warriors' lethal transition game.

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3 things to know about Warriors-Thunder