Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Golden State Warriors: Postgame Grades and Analysis
The Golden State Warriors jumped all over the Oklahoma City Thunder with dominant play on both ends of the floor, and they never let up during Monday's 117-91 home victory.
The star of the game was undoubtedly the Warriors defense, which smothered the Thunder into 30.6 percent shooting from the field. Russell Westbrook scored 22 points and Kevin Durant had 14 as the Olympians combined for just eight field goals. Three late OKC field goals in the final 80 seconds helped the team avoid the worst single-game shooting percentage in the NBA this season.
Harrison Barnes led all scorers with 23 for Golden State. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson notched 19 points apiece. The Warriors enjoyed a double-digit cushion for the game's final 35 minutes and didn't need any heroism from the "Splash Brothers."
OKC made some gains on defense in the third quarter, but they shot even worse on the offensive end and never found any traction against a dominant Dubs D. Here are game grades for all the key players in the convincing Warriors win.
| Stephen Curry | B+ |
| Klay Thompson | B+ |
| Harrison Barnes | A- |
| Draymond Green | B |
| Marreese Speights | C |
| Rest of Team | B+ |
| Russell Westbrook | C- |
| Andre Roberson | C- |
| Kevin Durant | C- |
| Serge Ibaka | D |
| Steven Adams | B |
| Rest of Team | C |
Golden State Warriors
Stephen Curry, Point Guard
Curry and Thompson combined for 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting in the first quarter, but they also picked up two fouls each and hit the bench a bit early. As it turned out, that didn't really matter, but it did serve to showcase the team's depth.
Steph also flashed some fancy moves that didn't even result in points. He ended his modest evening with 19 points, nine boards, six assists and four steals.
Grade: B+
Klay Thompson, Shooting Guard
Thompson came storming out of the gate with 13 points in the game's first four minutes. But he also had four fouls before the midway point of the third quarter.
He finished with just 19 points and played only 19 minutes, partly due to foul trouble and mainly due to the Dubs enjoying such a massive lead.
Grade: B+
Draymond Green, Power Forward
Green picked up a couple of fouls early in the first quarter, which limited his minutes. But he quietly turned in another all-around performance with 11 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and three blocks.
He won't be happy about missing all four of his free throws, but there won't be too many concerns in the locker room after this laugher against two of the league's top players.
Grade: B
Harrison Barnes, Small Forward
Harrison Barnes had scored 10 points combined in his last two games. He surpassed that in the first half Monday night, dropping 13 points in the second quarter alone. And he wasn't done there.
Barnes finished with a game-high 23 points to go with seven boards. He canned all five of his attempts from three-point range, exemplifying a Dubs offense that made 15 treys from 28 attempts. The Thunder also attempted 28 three-pointers but made only five.
Grade: A-
Marreese Speights, Center
With Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli both inactive on Monday, Mo Speights had to shoulder the burden. He didn't carry it very well, but no one player could have upset the Warriors' apple cart on Monday. Speights made only one field goal on eight shots, getting himself six points and six boards.
Grade: C
Rest of Team
Justin Holiday has surprisingly cracked the rotation with his creditable play, and he splashed a couple of treys in the first half on his way to a dozen points. The recent NBA D-Leaguer also had three dimes and two steals on a big 28-minute night.
David Lee continued his exile on the second unit, caused by his hamstring injury to begin the season and continued largely due to his shoddy defense. Lee, an All-Star last year, finished with eight points and eight boards in 21 minutes.
Andre Iguodala showed a spark, and he got the arena rocking with a pick-6 steal and slam in transition during a raucous first half. He tallied eight points and handed out six assists, tying Curry for the high mark on the team.
Shaun Livingston didn't do much statistically, but he doesn't have to. He provides a veteran presence to the backcourt, not to mention length and some defense, and three points with three assists will do just fine.
Grade: B+
Oklahoma City Thunder
Kevin Durant, Small Forward
Durant abused the Warriors for 30 points during the first half of their last meeting—a 114-109 Warriors victory in Golden State—but he sprained his ankle and exited the game before he could compile another career night. (Durant scored a career-high 54 points in his previous game against Golden State on Jan. 17, 2014; he sat out the Thunder's 91-86 loss to the Dubs on Nov. 23.)
Someone must have stolen his mojo before this game, because Durant couldn't do much of anything against a ferocious Warriors defense. He was even missing free throws! He finished with three lonely field goals on 16 shots, good for 14 points in 32 minutes.
KD did snag double-digit rebounds, but his shooting performance should be thrown out with the bathwater. Draw another one. And the reigning MVP is allowed to have a clunker now and then.
Grade: C-
Russell Westbrook, Point Guard
The Thunder shot just 28 percent from the field in digging a 20-point halftime deficit, the franchise's worst field-goal percentage in a half since Nov. 7, 2008, according to the NBA TV telecast. Durant and Westbrook combined on 2-of-14 shooting from the field in the first quarter, and it didn't get much better from there.
Fortunately for his stat line and his fantasy owners, Westbrook did manage to get to the line as he tried to will the Thunder back into the game. That's how he tallied 22 points even though he finished up with 5-of-21 shooting.
Grade: C-
Serge Ibaka, Power Forward
Serge Ibaka didn't have his scoring touch against the Dubs, which could also be said of virtually every Thunder player. But when Steven Adams scores more than twice as many points as Ibaka, you know they have a problem.
Ibaka scored four points on two field goals from seven shots. He did not get to the free-throw line and added five boards and two blocks on a very quiet night.
Grade: D
Steven Adams, Center
Steven Adams stood out early with a beautiful block on Speights in the first quarter. It's possible that Speights is incapable of executing a reverse layup on such a play, but Adams annihilated the straight layup attempt.
Adams put up 10 points and nine boards.
Grade: B
Andre Roberson, Shooting Guard
Andre Roberson started the game but did not see much of the court until garbage time, which began early. He had four points and three assists in 20 minutes.
Grade: C-
Rest of Team
The Thunder were also involved in a three-team trade Monday night, according to an official release via NBA.com. They acquired Cleveland Cavaliers guard Dion Waiters for a protected 2015 first-round pick and sent forward Lance Thomas to the New York Knicks.
Reggie Jackson had heard his name swirling amid trade rumors, but he was not involved in Monday's three-team deal. Still, he seemed out of sorts, unable to get much going in the way of offense. He also committed a boneheaded foul on Draymond Green's three-pointer with the shot clock winding down, which came as the Thunder were chipping away at the Warriors lead late in the third quarter.
Anthony Morrow played well off the bench, but it just wasn't his team's night. They essentially wasted his 17 points and 10 rebounds (six offensive) off the bench, but it's something to think about in light of Roberson's no-show.
Kendrick Perkins actually had a very efficient turn with six points, six boards and a blocked shot in just eight minutes. Perhaps he stole Durant's mojo for the night.
Perry Jones couldn't get anything going for himself. He failed to score in his 24 minutes and posted a minus-22 floor rating.
Monday's trade comes as a cost-cutting measure for the moribund Knicks—now an NBA-worst 5-32—who also sent J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to Cleveland. OKC nets a potentially explosive shooting guard for the bench as Smith fills that role for Cleveland, so expect to see Waiters' name in the game grades next time around.
Grade: C
Coming Up Next
The Thunder remain in the state to face the Sacramento Kings Wednesday evening. The Warriors host the Indiana Pacers that night.
