Warriors silence Westbrook, Thunder

Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson shoots over Oklahoma City Thunder centre Steven Adams during the first quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Thompson scored 34 points as the Warriors swept to a 111-95 victory.
Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson shoots over Oklahoma City Thunder centre Steven Adams during the first quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Thompson scored 34 points as the Warriors swept to a 111-95 victory. PHOTO: REUTERS

OKLAHOMA CITY • Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson loves playing in Oklahoma City.

Thunder fans remember all the way back to Game Six of last season's Western Conference finals when he single-handedly sank the home team with a barrage of three-pointers.

Thompson had a similar performance on Monday night as the Warriors rolled to a 111-95 National Basketball Association (NBA) victory over the Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Thompson poured in 34 points on 12-of-21 shooting. That included knocking down seven of his 15 shots from three-point range.

"I don't think it's anything particular," Thompson said. "I've been playing well the last few games. Got a lot of great looks today. It's as simple as knocking them down."

The Warriors swept the season series with the Thunder 4-0 by an average of more than 20 points per game.

Stephen Curry also buried seven three-pointers on his way to 23 points for the Warriors. JaVale McGee posted 10 points and four blocked shots as the Warriors raised their record to 56-14.

  • RUSSELL WESTBROOK'S TRIPLE-DOUBLE WATCH: 34

  • POINTS 31.4

    REBOUNDS 10.5

    ASSISTS 10.3

    AVERAGE AFTER 70 GAMES

"To go on the road in a tough environment and play the way we played, it's good for us," Golden State's Draymond Green said.

Oklahoma City's Victor Oladipo scored a team-high 17 points, but Russell Westbrook had a sub-par night, restricted to only 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

His current triple-double average stands at 31.4 points, 10.5 rebounds and 10.3 assists after 70 games.

Enes Kanter came off the bench to score 11 points, and Taj Gibson added 10 as the Thunder dropped to 40-30 and had a five-game win streak halted.

"Just one of those nights," Westbrook said. "Shots didn't fall. They made shots as well. A few mishaps defensively. But we'll be all right."

Late in the second quarter, Westbrook and Curry got into a shoving match and the rest of the players on the floor got into the action as the teams had to be separated.

"Ain't nothing going through my mind but to protect my team-mates," Westbrook said. "That's what was going through my mind."

Technical fouls were called on Westbrook, Curry, Green and Oklahoma City's Semaj Christon before the teams had a jump-ball situation.

Led by Westbrook and Oladipo, Oklahoma went on a 13-5 run to start the second half. It looked like the Thunder were back in the game.

"We knew it was coming," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "We're on their home floor.

"Russell did not have a great first half. We knew he would come out attacking. He attacked the rim a couple of times.

"We just weathered the storm."

However, the Thunder were unable to make another run for the rest of the night. Westbrook stayed on the bench in the fourth.

"I am pleased with the way we played overall," Kerr added.

"Defence was solid. I thought JaVale McGee came in and had a huge impact. Getting his hands on a lot of rebounds, deflections. He just got his hand on the ball and created extra deflections for us.

"And obviously, we had Steph and Klay going from three-point land."

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 22, 2017, with the headline Warriors silence Westbrook, Thunder. Subscribe