Oklahoma City Thunder We've Been Waiting for All Season Finally Arrive

As the old saying goes, "Good things come to those who wait."

On Friday night, the good thing was a 127-115 win for the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Western Conference-leading Golden State Warriors. It came complete with the ferocious, devastatingly effective offense that OKC fans have been waiting for all season.

Kevin Durant scored 36 points on 18 shots. Serge Ibaka scored 27 points on 18 shots. And Russell Westbrook? Oh, he just had a ho-hum triple-double of 17 points, 17 assists and 15 rebounds.

What's even more impressive is that it happened against the Warriors, who lead the league in defensive rating, giving up just 97.3 points per 100 possessions.

Now, the Warriors were without defensive anchors one and two in Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala, but that was more of a footnote to, rather than a reason for, this explosion.

Warriors DRtg with Bogut Off the Floor	99.2
Warriors DRtg with Iguodala Off the Floor	99.7
Warriors DRtg Against Thunder on 1/16	122.9

Even when those two are on the bench, the Warriors typically give up fewer than 100 points per 100 possessions. They weren't even able to sniff that mark with OKC's three best players clicking.

That should serve as a startling reminder to the rest of the league that the Thunder are still very much in the conversation for title contention, despite being 3.5 games behind the eighth-seeded Phoenix Suns.

Injuries are largely responsible for OKC being in this position, but they're not the only reason. Even as they've been healthy over the last couple weeks, the Thunder have looked flat, going 3-3 since Durant returned from an ankle injury.

Following their last loss in that stretch, Bleacher Report's Sean Hojnacki wondered if they'd be able to make the playoffs:

"

During their nationally televised 112-101 loss to the Houston Rockets Thursday, the Oklahoma City Thunder played well for just one of the four quarters. That inconsistency could sink them in a cutthroat Western Conference which brims with so much talent; the defending-champion San Antonio Spurs currently rank seventh despite being eight games over .500.

"

Before the ankle sprain, the Thunder looked sharp, going 7-2. But Durant's broken foot, which caused him to miss the first 17 games, and bum ankle, which kept him out of miss six more, bookended any momentum they gained.

As if losing your leading scorer and reigning MVP wasn't bad enough, Durant isn't the only one who's been out. Westbrook missed 14 games because of a broken hand.

With their two best players in and out of the lineup, it makes sense that the Thunder might have some issues finding rhythm and continuity. Perhaps what they needed to break out of this most recent semi-funk was an opportunity to get hyped for a big game against a team like the Warriors.

And "hyped" is an apt description of how they looked. 

Westbrook established a breakneck pace that knocked Golden State off balance. His attacks either left the defense standing still or collapsed it and left shooters wide-open for kick-outs.

That just covers the points and assists. One of the things that makes Westbrook such a nightmare is his rebounding ability.

He grabbed 12 defensive boards, all of which quickly turned into one-man fast breaks. The one or two seconds OKC saves by having Westbrook start the break himself instead of receiving an outlet pass may not seem like much, but when it happens so frequently, the Thunder end up with two or three extra possessions in a game.

OKC head coach Scott Brooks was left in awe of his star point guard's performance, per the Thunder's official Twitter account:

That could be the difference between a game going to overtime or ending in regulation.

Thanks to the play of OKC's Big Three, the threat extra time was never really there in Friday's contest. The increase in possessions just made the game more exciting and allowed Durant and Ibaka to take more shots.

Both are nearly impossible to defend when their jump shots are falling, which is pretty common for Durant. It's tough to alter the shot of a 6'10" guy (I know Durant's listed at 6'9", but look at him standing next to Ibaka on the floor).

Now, add the fact that Durant has added Dirk Nowitzki's one-legged fadeaway to his repertoire. As if the guy needed to be more unguardable.

	FG%	3P%	3PA/gm	Height
Kevin Durant	54.6%	45.2%	5.3	6'9" (allegedly)
Serge Ibaka	47.2%	41.2%	3.5	6'10"

The power of all three together was on display against the Warriors. There's no defender who can keep Westbrook out of the paint. If the defense collapses on him in there, he can kick to shooters who are impervious to closeouts. If it doesn't, Westbrook just scores himself.

This attack shredded the best defense in the NBA.

And guess what? Even though the season series is over, the Warriors might have to try to guard this triumvirate again. Maybe even in the first round. Golden State has the No. 1 seed, and OKC's not likely to finish higher than No. 8 because of all the losses that piled up with Durant and Westbrook sidelined.

Congratulations on having the West's best regular-season record, Warriors. Your reward? A first-round, seven-game series against this machine…as long as its engine keeps running the way it did Friday.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats and salary figures are courtesy of NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com and are current as of Jan. 16, 2015.

Andy Bailey covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him @AndrewDBailey.