Golden State Warriors beat Oklahoma City Thunder to close gap in Western Conference finals

Stephen Curry scored 31 points as the Golden State Warriors staved off elimination from the NBA play-offs with a 120-111 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The MVP made a slick layup late and dished out six assists, while Klay Thompson added 27 points as the Warriors reduced the deficit in the best-of-seven series to 3-2 ahead of Game Six in Oklahoma City on Saturday night.

Defending champions Golden State are trying to become just the 10th team to rally from a 3-1 deficit to win the Western Conference finals.

Kevin Durant scored 40 points and Russell Westbrook added 31 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and five steals for the Thunder, who are trying to secure their fifth NBA Finals appearance in franchise history and first championship since moving from Seattle.

The record-setting, 73-win Warriors, coming off their first back-to-back defeats all season, had been blown out in two losses at Oklahoma City by a combined 52 points.

"We have to take that game and travel," Curry said of keeping momentum.

Durant's three-pointer with 4:34 left got the Thunder within 103-98, before Curry answered with a three-point play.

Curry scored seven points in a 58-second stretch of the second quarter and hit more big shots late, but the Thunder didn't go away easily.

"I liked our will, I liked our fight," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "We were embarrassed in OKC the last couple games."

Trailing 58-50 at half-time, Oklahoma City came out of the break with a 9-2 run. Westbrook's three-pointer with 6:06 left in the third quarter put Oklahoma City ahead 68-67 for their first lead of the night. But Golden State led 81-77 going into the fourth and began the final period with an 8-0 burst.

"We didn't shoot a particularly good percentage when we got into the lane and got into the deep paint," Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. "We had our opportunities."

Curry shot nine for 20 and also had five steals, while Thompson had his 11th 20-point game for the second straight post-season despite shooting two for nine from three-point range.

After struggling in the past two games, Draymond Green had 11 points and 13 rebounds a day after receiving some encouraging words from Kobe Bryant on the phone.

"We really relied on the entire team tonight, which is when we're at our best," Curry said.

Kerr had called for centre Andrew Bogut to do more and the 7ft Australian delivered with a play-off career-high 15 points and 14 rebounds for his second double-double this post-season and seventh of his career.

Marreese Speights had a pair of three-point plays and a three in the second quarter to give Golden State a nice lift off the bench. He had nine points in four minutes during that stretch and 14 points overall for his fifth double-digit scoring game this post-season.