Warriors beat Thunder in Kevin Durant’s Return to Oklahoma City

Kevin Durant, who left the Oklahoma City Thunder after last season and signed with the Golden State Warriors, made his much anticipated return to Oklahoma City on February 11th for a Saturday night matchup between the Warriors and the Thunder. The two teams have played two other times this season, both in Oakland. The Warriors won 122-96 on November 3rd, and 121-100 on January 18th.

It was tense on the court for those games; despite the denials, there is an obvious feeling among the players that Durant bolted the Thunder just as they were achieving greatness, in favor of one of the top two teams in the league, as well as a conference rival who eliminated Oklahoma City in the playoffs last season. There’s no denying the fans feel that way as Durant was booed at every opportunity in Saturday’s game. While one can understand Durant signing a two year $54.3 million contract to play with the Warriors, the downside is the negative reaction from fans and former teammates, especially in this case, Russell Westbrook. But in the last five seasons, the Thunder have lost one conference semi final, three Western Conference Finals, and one NBA Final. The fact that the Thunder have been a little short every year probably factored in the decision to make the move; opportunities like this don’t happen often in a career.

For his part, Durant is handling it as well as can be expected. He has played very well against his old team despite the pressure. Durant scored 34 points in Saturday’s game; he scored 39 and 40 in the other two games. Westbrook, who has been putting up some huge numbers this season, led all scorers with 47 points, but for the third time in three games, the Warriors beat the Thunder, this time by a final score of 130-114.