Kevin Durant dominates first battle against Russell Westbrook

Kevin Durant led the Golden State Warriors to an impressive win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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In the first highly anticipated battle between the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder on the year, Kevin Durant got the better of Russell Westbrook. Playing with a lot of emotion, Durant was able to turn it into a big night on both ends of the floor.

Believe it or not, the Thunder came out as the aggressors early in this one. Russell Westbrook was making circus shots and Steven Adams was making some nice moves in the posts. It was awfully similar to the games the Warriors struggled in during the Western Conference Finals last year.

Then the Warriors and Durant came alive. Whether it was an open look or a big dunk, Durant got fired up at the hoop and started chatting with the Thunder. A big and-one got him fired up for good and it was on from there.

There came a special moment in the second quarter, when Westbrook swatted Durant. The new superstar for the Warriors would return the favor and put an even bigger block on Westbrook. Draymond Green got so excited by the block he got a technical over it.

While Durant was doing his thing, the Warriors found their shot from beyond the arc. Stephen Curry was hitting his shots per the norm, but Klay Thompson finally broke out of his slump from deep. It was a welcome sight at home.

Things officially reached garbage time status by the end of the third quarter. Durant would come in to put one last touch on the night and had two more monster dunks to really show off. It was all Durant and his 39 points leading the way.