They were teammates for eight years but none of that mattered Thursday night in a highly anticipated showdown between the Golden State Warriors and the Oklahoma City Thunder at the sold-out Oracle Arena.
After Kevin Durant left OKC to join the GSW in the offseason, Russell Westbrook and the NBA MVP haven’t spoken since.
They didn’t shake hands, talk or even make eye contact with each other before tipoff in what continues to be an awkward and heated relationship.
But at the end of the day, the 2014 NBA MVP got the best of Westbrook as he scored a game-high 39 points on 15 of 24 shooting including tying a career high by hitting seven 3-pointers. Durant also tied an NBA record for most points by a player in his first game against his former team, to lead the Warriors to a 122-96 rout over the Thunder.
Kevin Durant's 29 point first half for #DubNation pic.twitter.com/hJnUUvLbtf
— NBA (@NBA) November 4, 2016
Westbrook had a great game too as he scored 20 points to go with 10 assists and six rebounds in just 29 minutes of action. After jumping out to a quick lead, Westbrook checked out to take a rest and that’s when the Warriors took over as they went on a big run to take a 68-43 halftime lead and didn’t look back.
When Durant wasn’t draining 3-pointers, he was able to get to the rim with ease and made it count as he had a number of flashy dunks.
Don’t hurt ‘em, KD! https://t.co/3FuUlYmOgU
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 4, 2016
.@KDTrey5 throws down with the left hand on TNT. pic.twitter.com/h9AVv0FPoo
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) November 4, 2016
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