OAKLAND — Kevin Durant took a golf club and teed off on the Oklahoma City Thunder for the second time in a row Wednesday night at Oracle Arena.
The Warriors won 121-100, Durant scored 40 points on 13/16 shooting, and now, arguably his best two games this season have come against a franchise he used to be the face of. KD was flawless on Wednesday night from top to bottom: His crossover, pulling up from anywhere, drawing fouls and slamming home his teammates’ missed layups. This comes after a 39-point throttling back on Nov. 3 in his first matchup against OKC.
Meanwhile, Durant’s replacement on the Thunder, Andre Roberson, scored just 3 points on 1/7 shooting. Halfway into the 2016-17 season the inevitable has become clear: Oklahoma City will never be able to survive Durant’s absence, no matter how special Russell Westbrook is (27 points, 15 rebounds, 13 assists). Golden State damaged their chief rival beyond repair with one free agent signing.
The game was actually tied 56 apiece at halftime until the Warriors bombarded the Thunder 37-22 in the third. Durant scored 13 points in the quarter and also finished with 12 rebounds. Steph Curry added 9 and 24 points total. The Thunder kept forcing bad shots and turning the ball over. Enes Kanter did give the Warriors big men problems, though, ending with 22 points and 9 rebounds.
Klay Thompson, who still played in the game after visiting his ill grandfather in Portland earlier in the day, chipped in 14 points on 3/5 from downtown. Draymond Green recorded his 13th double-double of the season (12 points, 10 rebounds). David West and Shaun Livingston both added 8 points off the bench on a combined 8/11 from the floor. Anderson Varejao saw 5 minutes of playing time.
In a jarring moment, Zaza Pachulia collied with Russell Westbrook near mid-court, causing the point guard to crumple to the floor and temporarily play dead — not unlike LeBron James on Monday night. Pachulia was whistled for a Flagrant likely for standing over Westbrook after the stonewalled impact.
It's ok, he's also a football player pic.twitter.com/WmhrhraDwK
— KNBR (@KNBR) January 19, 2017
The Warriors will have Thursday off before traveling to Houston for an anticipated matchup with the Rockets. James Harden is an MVP candidate and led his team to a 132-127 on Dec. 1 at Oracle Arena.