Five takeaways from the Thunder’s dominant win against the Warriors
By Tony Heim
The OKC Thunder did the unfathomable on Thanksgiving Eve, destroying the Golden State Warriors 108-91 in Oklahoma City.
You feel that? That’s the feeling of relief – you get that when the OKC Thunder maintain a double-digit lead for a full 48 minutes.
In all seriousness, Wednesday night was the most fun regular season basketball game that I can remember. The atmosphere inside Chesapeake Energy Arena was greater than some teams Playoff atmospheres (I’m looking at you Houston). The actual game play was electric, even during dead-ball timeouts. Much of that had to do with the still-relevant Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook beef. After experiencing everything from last night we can confirm this rivalry goes beyond just those two.
A beatdown of the Warriors – or any top-tier team for that matter – was exactly what this Thunder team needed. The first 16 games of the season were defined by inconsistent play, lost leads and crunch-time breakdowns. While OKC didn’t necessarily solve any of these problems, they gave themselves a blueprint for what their brand of basketball can be for 48 minutes.
Now it’s about building on this momentum. Will Paul George and Carmelo Anthony give up some of the reigns to Russell Westbrook for good? Will Billy Donovan continue to toy with his rotations? These are only a couple of the questions we’re going to explore in the next five takeaways.