OKC Thunder: Top-five memorable season openers

Number three:

If you’ve been a Thunder fan for very long, you already know how this story ends. In the final season of the Kevin Durant era in Oklahoma City, the Thunder began with a confident 112-106 win over San Antonio.

It was a close game throughout, but the Thunder pulled away at the end by outscoring the Spurs by 10 in the fourth quarter. Kawhi Leonard was keeping San Antonio afloat with 32 points, but Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 33 points and 10 assists. Durant finished with 22 points and the bench came up big with 39 points in a hot-shooting night.

OKC was beginning its first season under new head coach Billy Donovan and, at the time, healthy enough to be a real contender. A nice win over the Mavs cemented that feeling of a good year to come.

The Thunder finished third in the west with a 55-27 record and all was going according to plan until they blew a 3-1 lead to the Warriors in the conference finals. Things went from bad to worse from there, as Durant jumped ship in the offseason, leaving Westbrook high and dry.