Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors (46-8) shook off some early nerves Saturday at the Chesapeake Energy Center to go up big, and then fight off an Oklahoma City Thunder rally in a 130-114 victory.
At tip-off and early in the first quarter, the atmosphere felt like a playoff game. But the energy from the salty fan base quickly started seeping out of the building like a wilted balloon.
Starting the game 2-for-8, Durant finally settled down and began rolling. Mid-range jumpers were falling and backdoor cuts turned into dunks. He finished with 34 points and 9 rebounds on 12/21 shooting — his season low in points in three games vs. the Thunder. Steve Kerr drew up several plays early on for Durant, but they weren’t exactly working. Eventually the Warriors found their groove and opened up a commanding lead in the second quarter.
Durant swished a signature 30-foot three-pointer to put the Warriors up 123-104 with the 3:39 left. After making the basket, the 28-year-old stared down Russell Westbrook as the Thunder called timeout to try and stop the barrage.
KD was helped mightily by his supporting cast — arguably the main reason he made the leap to the Bay. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson each finished with 26 points and were both sniping from behind the arc, combing to go 9/19. Curry even dished out 9 assists; Thompson hit two big buckets early in the fourth quarter to quell a Thunder comeback. JaVale McGee was outstanding (16 points in 20 minutes), arguably playing his best game of the season.
Tensions ran high despite the blowout nature of the game. Durant and Andre Roberson got chippy with each other after a hard foul from the Thunder forward in the third quarter. The former teammates bumped noses together during a heated argument. Draymond Green reportedly was jawing back-and-forth with a fan who taunted him about kicking opponents, so much so, security had to intervene.
Westbrook did his very best to rally the Thunder, but it was nowhere near enough. The Thunder managed to outscore the Warriors 38-32 in a high-energy third quarter, but a 12 point deficit was as close as OKC could trim the lead in the second half. Westbrook did put on a show, tough, finishing with 47 points, 11 rebounds, 11 turnovers and 8 assists.
The first half couldn’t have gone much worse for the Thunder and they never really stood a chance later on. Westbrook committed 7 turnovers, OKC went 0-for-11 from downtown and the one player the Thunder should’ve been least worried about — McGee — started the game 6-for-6 and owned the low post. Golden State took a 73-50 lead into the locker room.
The turning point in the energy came late in the first quarter — with Durant off the court. Curry, his co-partner in crime, nailed two three-pointers and took a charge underneath the basket on Cameron Payne. The Warriors got themselves some breathing room with a 30-24 lead at the end of the quarter.
From there, Golden State’s bench started annihilating the Thunder. The Warriors protected the basketball, made the extra pass and starting pulling further away each possession. Andre Iguodala was a +20 midway through the second quarter, Shaun Livingston finished with 6 points, even James Michael McAdoo and Kevon Looney provided some strong minutes with Zaza Pachulia (shoulder) and David West (thumb) out with injuries. The Warriors scored 43 points in that second period.
A reminder: This was on the second night of a back-to-back for the Warriors. They should’ve been the team dragging and low energy. But they weren’t. They’re monsters, machines — whatever adjective you want to call them.