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The Oklahoma City Thunder manhandled the Golden State Warriors, 123-95, in front of a defeated Oracle Arena crowd prior to Thanksgiving. Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson tried their best to lift their team sans Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, but the firepower Oklahoma City brought was too much. Even big man Steven Adams had his way inside the paint against a hapless Golden State frontline.
Adams finished Wednesday night with 20 points and 11 rebounds on 9-of-14 shooting, pummeling the Warriors inside the paint and making Damion Jones' 21 minutes feel like an eternity of banging bodies with an immovable object.
Kevin Durant saw this and succumbed to the fact that the defending champions had little-to-no answer to Adams, per Mark Medina of The Mercury News.
“He was trying to be active. Steven Adams is a load down there. He had nothing to do with it,” Durant said of Jones. “We have to help him out and crack down. We could’ve done a better job.”
Sacramento Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein can easily attest to Steven Adams' reputation as among the strongest players in the NBA. The Kiwi Thunder's big game made up for the lackluster offensive show from Russell Westbrook, who only scored 11 points on 5-of-15 shooting.
The Thunder's win has put them slightly ahead of the Warriors in the Western Conference standings. However, expect a more competitive game when these two teams face each other again late in the season or even in the playoffs, especially when DeMarcus Cousins finishes his recovery from an ACL injury.
