The first game between Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant? Fill with hatred and not-so-underlying tension, but most importantly the Golden State Warriors beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-96, with a huge night from Durant.
Durant scored 29 points in the first half, 39 overall. He and the Warriors struggled early against a fired up Westbrook, but the game was pretty much over in the second quarter, with the second half one long garbage time session. The Thunder were on the second night of a back-to-back against the Clippers (not great thinking from the NBA about giving us the best possible game) and looked like the whole thing was a bit too much for them the moment Durant got hot.
But the centerpiece of the evening was the interactions between Durant and Westbrook. There were none. There was plenty of trash talking between Warriors players and Durant, and Durant was visibly angry about some things Thunder players told him. But Durant and Westbrook? They didn’t talk. Durant saying that they’re cool? Obviously lying. Westbrook has said the two still haven’t talked since Durant made his decision, and it was clear to see there’s no love between the two of them. In fact, it’s the exact opposite.
Westbrook was all about “subtle” hints, like making fun of Durant’s love for photography
Russell Westbrook got to block Kevin Durant
Westbrook had this crazy layup early on, when it seemed like this was going to be a special game for him and the Thunder
Steve Kerr tried to get his team fired up by acting all tough, which cost him a tech
But mostly this was Durant’s game
Getting destroyed didn’t stop Enes Kanter from trash-talking Durant
After the game, Westbrook tried explaining why he wore the photographer’s vest
And Durant had this to say about Kanter, who has been throwing shade at him through Twitter since he joined the Warriors
KD just teed off on Enes Kanter: “What did he play, 3 minutes? I’m sure he’s going to put something on Twitter tonight.”
— Kevin Jones (@Mr_KevinJones) November 4, 2016
