OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Golden State Warriors are returning to the NBA Finals.

"By the skin of our teeth," coach Steve Kerr admitted.

The defending NBA champions, who fell behind the Oklahoma City Thunder 3-1 in the Western Conference finals, capped their comeback with a barrage of 3-pointers in the second half Monday night, using their long-distance accuracy to earn a 96-88 victory in Game 7.

Stephen Curry hit five second-half 3-pointers and scored 36 points in all, vaulting Golden State to a second consecutive West title and into a rematch with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the championship.

The best-of-seven NBA Finals will tip off Thursday night in Oakland.

"They had us on our heels constantly in this series," Kerr said of the Thunder, who stole the home-court advantage from the Warriors with a win in Oakland in Game 1. "I genuinely feel for that team because they were very close and they deserved to be (in the NBA Finals) just as much as we do, really. But we were able to pull it out."

The Warriors found themselves down by 13 in the first half Monday and eight early in the third quarter before gunning their way to a shot at being the league's first repeat winner since the Miami Heat in 2012 and '13.

Golden State, which made seven 3-pointers in 17 attempts in the first half, used 10 over the final 24 minutes to catch and pass the Thunder, the third-seeded team in the Western playoffs.

"This could have played out entirely differently," Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. "There was opportunity for us to close the series out in (Games) 5 and 6 and 7, and we came up a little short."

After Golden State surged into the lead in the third quarter, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green bombed in consecutive 3-pointers to give the Warriors an 88-77 advantage with 4:44 to go in the game.

However, the Thunder, who upset the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the second round, would not die easily.

Russell Westbrook scored on a drive, and Kevin Durant scored seven consecutive points, and all of a sudden Oklahoma City was back within 90-86 with 1:40 to play.

Then came the biggest play of the night, and maybe even the series.

Inbounding from in front of the Oklahoma City bench with just five seconds left on the shot clock, the Warriors got the ball to Curry, who was immediately bottled up by Thunder forward Serge Ibaka.

The Golden State star had no choice but to fling a desperation 28-footer under heavy pressure, but he was bailed out when Ibaka was called for a foul.

"That was a dagger for us," Durant said. "I thought we had got the stop and the rebound, and I was feeling good. I felt good.

"But, hey, it is a lot of what-ifs. We could have said a lot of what-ifs throughout the whole playoffs. You've got to give credit to them. They came out and played well the last three games of the series and won three in a row."

Curry, the league's leading free-throw shooter during the regular season, cashed in three foul shots to provide a cushion, then iced Golden State's three-game sweep with one final 3-pointer with 26.8 seconds left, opening a 10-point lead.

"No one had any doubts that we could get this done," Green said. "It took a great, tremendous effort and fight to overcome (the 3-1 deficit)."

Curry finished 13-for-24 from the field and 7-for-12 from 3-point range on a night when the Warriors shot better from beyond the arc (45.9 percent) than overall (43.5 percent).

Golden State hit half of its second-half 3-point attempts.

"I could tell in Game 6 that he was starting to feel like himself," Kerr said of Curry, who has sustained ankle, knee and elbow injuries in the postseason. "I told our coaching staff (Sunday): I have no doubt Steph's going to have a huge game. That's just who he is."

Curry also found time for a game-high eight assists.

Thompson hit six 3-pointers to account for almost all of his 21 points, helping Golden State outscore Oklahoma City 51-21 on long-distance shots.

"Games 3 and 4, they missed the shots that they hit Games 6 and 7," Durant said. "They beat us (from) the 3-point line the last two games. We beat them everywhere else, they beat us from the 3-point line, and that was the series."

Green added 11 points, a team-high nine rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots for the Warriors, who became just the 10th team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-seven series.

"This whole playoff run has kind of been a roller-coaster ride for me specifically, and for our team," Curry said. "We never lost confidence, and every game just played with fearlessness and that confidence we could get back to the Finals however we had to get it done."

Durant led the Thunder with 27 points, hitting 10 of his 19 shots and three of his seven 3-point attempts. He also had seven rebounds.

Westbrook recorded a 19-point, 13-assist double-double, but he shot just 7-for-21.

"This was a game where Golden State made more shots than we did from behind the line," said Donovan, whose club shot just 38.2 percent from the field and made only seven of 27 3-point attempts. "And I thought we had some stuff around the rim we just didn't finish."

Ibaka added 16 points for the Thunder, who were seeking to become first team in NBA history to beat two 65-win teams in the same postseason.

"There are no moral victories in our locker room," Durant said. "We're all upset. We wanted to get a chance to play for a championship in the Finals, so that hurts."

The Thunder defense dominated the first half, during which the Warriors endured a 3-for-18 shooting stretch bridging the first and second quarter.

Oklahoma City led 35-22 at one point and 48-42 at the half.

The game flipped in the third period.

While the Warriors were holding the Thunder to five field goals in the quarter, Curry was heating up at the other end of the court.

He hit three 3-pointers in period, and the Warriors used a 15-6 spurt to grab their first lead since the second minute of the game.

They never trailed again.

NOTES: The game marked the first Game 7 in the Western Conference finals since the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings in overtime to advance to the NBA Finals in 2002. ... Thirty previous teams rallied from a 3-1 deficit to force Game 7 in a best-of-seven NBA playoff series. The Warriors became the just the 10th to go on to win Game 7. ... Warriors coach Steve Kerr made a change in his starting lineup, replacing SF Harrison Barnes with SF Andre Iguodala, who finished with seven points. ... The Warriors' Barnes (24) and Thunder coach Billy Donovan (51) celebrated birthdays Monday.