Warriors turn tables on Thunder, win 112-80

OAKLAND - The Warriors don’t often play big games during the regular season. Saturday night’s 112-80 win against the Oklahoma City Thunder was big.

The Thunder were the only team in the NBA with a winning streak against the Warriors, having beaten them twice in a row - by a combined margin of 37 points.

The Thunder could have become the first team to win three regular-season games in a row against the Warriors since Steve Kerr became their head coach in 2014.

But the Warriors dismissed them Saturday night. Just dismissed them. With defense.

The Thunder shot 33 percent from the field. Reigning NBA MVP Russell Westbrook made 4-of-15 shots and scored only 15 points. And the Thunder’s second-leading scorer, Paul George, finished with five points and just one field goal on 14 shots.

“We needed to win this game,” said Draymond Green, who had 10 points, five rebounds and eight assists.

Before the All Star break, the Warriors had lost four of their previous eight games. Since the break, they have won two of two.

“We’re champions,” Kevin Durant Said. “We’re 46-14. We’ve been doing this.”

To jumpstart their team after the break, the Warriors benched their starting center, Zaza Pachulia, and replaced him with JaVale McGee.

McGee struggled against the Thunder. He finished with only two points, six rebounds and four personal fouls. The Warriors got outscored by 10 points during the 10 minutes he was on the court.

And yet, the Warriors led by five points after the first quarter. They allowed the Thunder to make just 6 of 28 shots - 21.4 percent.

The Warriors bullied Oklahoma City.

With 2:07 left in the second quarter, Durant and Carmelo Anthony almost got in a fight.

“I tried to get through a screen,” Durant said. “He grabbed me. I tried to get off of him, and he pushed me and the ref double teched us.”

Durant finished with 28 points.

With 1:04 left in the second quarter, Green picked up his 15th technical foul of the season when he blocked Jerami Grant’s shot, yelled and flexed his muscles and stared Grant while Grant lay on the ground.

“Doesn’t concern me at all,” Kerr said. “I want Draymond playing the way he played tonight. Draymond is an emotional player and, when he plays with passion, yelling and screaming, we’re at our best. If he gets a ‘T,’ he gets a ‘T.’?”

That, and the NBA will suspend Green for a game if he gets one more.

At halftime, the Warriors led 52-45.

When the third quarter began, Kerr went back to his starting lineup with McGee at center. And the Thunder went on an 8-2 run. Kerr called a timeout, but didn’t make a substitution. He stuck with his starters.

After the timeout, McGee immediately committed a turnover and a foul. Then, Anthony hit a 3-pointer and gave the Thunder a 56-54 lead. That’s when Kerr took out McGee and brought Pachulia back in.

And that’s when the game turned. The Warriors went on an 11-2 run, and Pachulia capped it with a dunk.

“He did a good job of being physical and staying in the game and boxing out and being in the right place,” Kerr said. “The things he has been doing for two years for us.”

During the 18 minutes and 30 seconds Pachulia was on the court Saturday night, the Warriors outscored the Thunder by 27 points.

Late in the third quarter, Pachulia appeared to commit a dirty play. He slowly fell on Westbrook’s leg after Westbrook already was on the ground.

“Obviously it was intentional,” Westbrook said. “He fell on my leg. He tried to hurt me.

The referees did not call a foul on Pachulia.

The Warriors closed the third quarter with a 14-0 run. When Pachulia came out, the Warriors were up by 15 points. And when the third quarter ended, the game essentially ended, too. The Warriors led 84-66. They outscored the Thunder 32-21 during the third.

“We beat a good team,” Kerr said. “We played a good game.”

Call it a statement game.