Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Golden State Warriors: Postgame Grades and Analysis
The Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors met in Oakland Thursday for a matchup between two of the league's hottest teams, and the Thunder not only lost 114-109, they also lost Kevin Durant.
Durant sizzled in the first half, but he stepped on Marreese Speights' foot while driving to the rack and exited the game late in the second quarter. He finished with 30 points in 19 minutes, so we can only wonder if he would have scored 50-plus and whether his able-bodied presence could have changed the game's end result.
Stephen Curry finished as the game's high scorer with 34 points, and Russell Westbrook notched 33 for OKC.
The Thunder had a blistering first quarter, opening a 17-point lead as Durant and Westbrook combined to score 29 points in the frame. The 40 points through 12 minutes was the most an opponent had hung on the Warriors to start any game this season.
But the Dubs have so much offense and such good defense, they regained the lead by the 7:00 mark of the second quarter.
Even after Durant went down, the Thunder played admirably and kept the contest close until the final buzzer. But only three teams have beaten Golden State this year, and the Thunder couldn't become the fourth without the "Durantula."
| Stephen Curry | A |
| Klay Thompson | B+ |
| Harrison Barnes | B |
| Draymond Green | A- |
| Festus Ezeli | C- |
| Rest of Team | B+ |
| Russell Westbrook | A- |
| Andre Roberson | B |
| Kevin Durant | A+/Incomplete |
| Serge Ibaka | B |
| Steven Adams | C- |
| Rest of Team | D |
Golden State Warriors
Stephen Curry, Point Guard
Steph Curry not only led his team in scoring, he flirted with a triple-double and came up with four steals for good measure.
Coming off a ragged shooting performance in the Dec. 16 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, which included hitting just one trey on 10 attempts, Curry went back to the well against OKC. He splashed five three-pointers on a dozen tries and finished with 34 points, nine dimes and seven rebounds.
Grade: A
Klay Thompson, Shooting Guard
Klay Thompson countered Curry by actually attempting field goals inside the three-point line. While half of Curry's shot attempts came on threes, Thompson was 2-of-4 shooting behind the arc to get his 19 points. He even handed out five assists.
Grade: B+
Draymond Green, Power Forward
Draymond Green also toyed with triple-double stats, thanks to his overarching unselfishness. He set a career-high in assists with nine, and he scored 16 to go with his nine rebounds, a steal and a block.
Green made standout plays on both ends of the floor, and he has all but taken David Lee's job while he's been out injured, making the All-Star forward into a Bay Area Wally Pipp.
Grade: A-
Harrison Barnes, Small Forward
Harrison Barnes had been playing with a protective mask to protect a broken nose he suffered recently, but in the fourth quarter, the layer of plastic over his face finally got to him, and he flung it off past the baseline during a defensive possession in the fourth quarter.
Then Barnes put a mask on his face once again, as he played the hero with a baseline jumper that stretched a three-point lead to five points with just 17 seconds remaining.
He tallied 12 points and seven boards, but more importantly, he showed the confidence to work for a quality shot one-on-one and take it in a clutch situation. Even if head coach Steve Kerr was less than thrilled with how his team used the possession, you can't argue with the result.
Grade: B
Festus Ezeli, Center
Festus Ezeli started the game and played fewer than 10 minutes, but he did a couple of things while he was still in the game. The backup big man notched four points, two rebounds, an assist and a block, but he was also tagged with three fouls in limited court time.
Grade: C-
Rest of Team
Marreese Speights continued his entirely unexpected Sixth Man of the Year campaign, notching 10 points, five boards and two blocks. His was also the foot that felled last season's MVP in this game.
Andre Iguodala might as well have been on a milk carton lately, as virtually all significant on-court contributions had disappeared, but he came to play on Thursday.
Iggy played just shy of 30 minutes and posted a game-high plus-18 court rating, more than twice as good as any of his teammates. He put up seven points, five assists, four boards, a steal and a block, harkening back to the days when he still stuffed the stat sheet.
Shaun Livingston used his length to dominate OKC's undersized backcourt. He scored 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting and helped steady the reserves, but he also appeared in the small-ball lineup with the starters at times.
Grade: B+
Oklahoma City Thunder
Kevin Durant, Small Forward
Kevin Durant roared out of the gate with 16 first-quarter points as the Thunder were hitting everything. He had scored a season-high 30 points by halftime, but he turned his ankle on a drive shortly before the second quarter ended.
The injury was a real shame, even if KD can return very soon, as he was on pace for a very memorable night. Fans in attendance and watching the national broadcast on TNT were deprived of a second-half shootout between reigning MVP Durant and 2014-15 MVP candidate Curry.
Grade: A+/Incomplete
Russell Westbrook, Point Guard
Westbrook had 15 points at halftime, but the Golden State D was able to key on him with Durant out in the second half. He struggled to find room until he asserted himself like vintage Westbrook down the stretch, scoring 11 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter.
He did all he could to carry OKC to victory, handing out a team-high eight assists, but OKC only managed 17 dimes on 41 field goals all night with a little too much hero ball dominating play. Westbrook also kicked away six turnovers.
Grade: A-
Serge Ibaka, Power Forward
Ibaka provided his usual blend of rim protection and efficient, opportunistic scoring. He turned in a dozen points on eight shots, plus six rebounds and three blocks. With KD sidelined, it would have been nice to see Ibaka flash that mid-range prowess he's been developing, but alas, he attempted only four field goals in the second half.
Grade: B
Andre Roberson, Shooting Guard
Andre Roberson was hogging all the rebounds for OKC and turned in a surprising double-double with 10 points and 12 boards. However, he had the majority of that by halftime, and he failed to make an impact over the final 24 minutes.
Grade: B
Steven Adams, Center
Steven Adams had a similar night to Ezeli, in that they both saw relatively little playing time as both teams played small lineups for the majority. The young man from New Zealand played for 13 minutes and change, finding six points and five rebounds.
Aside from his rugby toughness and the potential that he will irritate an opponent into an ejection, Adams mostly fades into the background.
Grade: C-
Rest of Team
Perry Jones struggled to find his shot, hitting just two of his seven field-goal attempts.
Reggie Jackson never got cooking, ending up with 2-of-8 shooting.
Anthony Morrow joined Jones and Jackson by scoring four points, as did Jeremy Lamb.
The Thunder needed someone to step up off the bench in the second half, and that never happened.
Grade: D
What's Next?
Next up, the Thunder (12-14) complete their back-to-back by visiting the Los Angeles Lakers Dec. 19. The Warriors (22-3) have all weekend off before hosting the Sacramento Kings on Dec. 22.
