Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook will play each other for the third time on February 11. (Getty)
Kevin Durant made waves when he announced that he signed a deal with the Golden State Warriors on July 7. His departure from Oklahoma City resulted in many fans being critical, with some burning his Thunder jersey in protest of the signing.
Most of all, Durant’s friendship with Russell Westbrook faded into obscurity. Durant said in an October 2016 interview that he and Westbrook “were just work friends” when the two played together for eight seasons in Oklahoma City. Chris Haynes from ESPN reported in mid-January that the two still aren’t on speaking terms. In fact, Durant would only talk about the game in the interview, refusing to field questions about his relationship with Westbrook.
The first two times the teams met in the 2016-2017 season, the Warriors won handily.
On November 3, 2016, Golden State upended Oklahoma City 122-96 in Oakland. Durant was on fire offensively in the game, shooting 15-of-24 from the field, including 7-for-11 from 3-point range. He finished the game with 39 points and 7 rebounds. Westbrook, on the other hand, struggled. He was 4-of-15 shooting and closed the game with 20 points — 10 of which were from the free-throw line — 10 assists and 6 rebounds.
Westbrook was vocal following the game about the Warriors and their tactics, saying “the Warriors are doing a lot of trash talking. Apparently, I guess they talk a lot of trash now, but we’ll see how that goes.”
In the second meeting between the two, Durant and the Warriors walked out of Oracle Arena in the Bay Area the victors once again. Golden State beat Oklahoma City 121-100 on January 18.
This time, Durant was even better. He scored a season-high 40 points on 13-of-16 shooting to go along with 12 rebounds and 4 assists. Westbrook delivered in the losing effort, too. He had a triple-double, scoring 27 points with 15 rebounds and 13 assists. He struggled shooting, though, going 8-of-23 through the game to go along with 10 turnovers.
The Warriors and the Thunder play each other starting at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on February 11 in Oklahoma City. The game can be seen on ABC.
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