By the Numbers: OKC's Big 3 Outpower GSW's Super Trio

Westbrook with another near triple-double as the Thunder win in Durant's return

Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant used to be one of the most exciting and probably among the best dynamic duos the NBA has ever seen during their days together with the Oklahoma City Thunder. In fact, they had the chance to dethrone the Golden State Warriors but the Thunder blew a 3-1 series lead in the Western  Conference Finals two seasons ago. And that was the last time the NBA saw Westbrook and Durant in the same uniform outside of the All-Star Game.

Since then, the duo has been viewed as archnemesis as trash talks mired all of the games between the Thunder and the Warriors and this game was no different.

Despite their inconsistencies which made them a laughingstock for failing to win despite having their own Big 3, the Oklahoma City Thunder let the numbers do the talking for them as they scored a win over the defending champions, Golden State Warriors, 108-91  in a game that was mired by boos and trash-talking between star players.

Take away the boos. Take away the emotions. Take away all of those nonsense trash talking. Let's take a look at the big numbers that propelled the Thunder to beat the Warriors:

OKC's Big 3 Dominated

Now, this is something we all have been expecting of the Big 3 of Oklahoma especially after landing Paul George and Carmelo in two separate trades that shook the entire NBA. And not.

Against one of the top teams in the West, Russell Westbrook recorded 34 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists plus 4 steals. Paul George had 20 points and 11 rebounds while  Carmelo Anthony had 22 points and 5 boards.

One may ask: Where were they during the early goings of the season?

Defend. And Run

Oklahoma had 15 steals. They forced the Warriors to commit 22 turnovers. And they were able to run on the break which produced 33 fastbreak points. The Thunder also had a 50-39 advantage on the rebounding department. Now that's how you play like a super team and that's you beat a super team.

Conclusion

While this is only the first of the 4 meetings between the two teams this season,  the Thunder needed a victory as big as this one because whether we like it or not, they are failing expectations. Big expectations. As for the Warriors, one bad game doesn't change anything at all. One bad game doesn't mean that they can no longer dominate the West. After all, the West is still for the Warriors to dominate, right?