Russell Westbrook and Paul George too much for Warriors in Oracle Arena blowout
Paul George and Russell Westbrook led an absolute rout of the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. Although the Thunder have struggled to maintain a reasonable level of consistency throughout the season, OKC ran the show in Oracle Arena from the moment they hit the court.
The pairing of Westbrook and George scored 72 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder utterly embarrassed the defending champions on their home floor. Entering the matchup, the Thunder had lost their last four games, but their recent string of lackluster performance mattered little when they laid a commanding 125-105 victory on the Warriors.
Durant did all he could to carry Golden State to the finish line, but without much help from the ice-cold Splash Brothers, his 33 points made little difference on the outcome of the game. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson shot 11-27 from the field and failed to bring the defensive intensity that head coach Steve Kerr preaches to his team.
The Warriors failed to contain the Thunder’s scorers and they failed to contain their tempers as they were called for five technical fouls over the length of the game. Not only did they lose the mental battle, but they lost for the third time in four games, a rare flop for such a seemingly invincible team.
OKC is nowhere near the caliber of team the Warriors are, though they certainly play like world beaters when they face off against Golden State. Few teams have managed to dismantle the Warriors like the Thunder have this season, and it looks like OKC just might be their kryptonite.
With little to no consistency, it’s impossible to tell where the Thunder will finish in the Western Conference by the end of the season. However, come playoff time, if they can manage to hang on and somehow meet the Warriors, we just may have ourselves a new Western Conference Finals representative.
There’s no guaranteeing OKC can even get out of the first round with as bad as they’ve been at times, but should they do so, we’ll be in for one heck of a ride. Golden State is without a doubt the best team in the NBA, but the Thunder have their number.
