Kevin Durant Scores 34 In Heated Return To OKC As Warriors Hold Off Thunder

Kevin Durant scored 34 points in his first game back in OKC to lead the Warriors to a 130-114 win over the Thunder on Saturday night.

Related: Thunder Social Scene

Durant drilled a dagger 3-pointer over Russell Westbrook with 3:40 left to put the Warriors up 19, then stopped to stare down his former teammate as Golden State coasted to their third straight win.

While much of the hype entering this game surrounded the matchup between Durant and Westbrook, the most defining run of the game came when both players were off the floor.

With Durant already on the bench, Westbrook checked out with 1:45 left in the first quarter with the score tied at 22-22. Over the five minutes Westbrook sat on the bench to take a breather, the Warriors outscored the Thunder 24-8 to take a 15-point lead, and rode that momentum throughout the rest of the third quarter to lead by 23 at halftime.

Despite the Warriors going up big early, the game still had its fair share of drama.

Things began to get heated when Durant was assigned the task of guarding Westbrook in the third quarter. Not only were the two trading buckets, but the former teammates were talking trash as well. After the Warriors called a timeout following a Victor Oladipo 3-pointer, both Westbrook and Durant were passionately jawing back and forth.

Then after drawing a foul on a drive to the basket in the third quarter, Durant and Andre Roberson exchanged heated words and had to be separated by officials.

As the Chesapeake Energy Arena crowd continued to cheer on its hometown team, the Thunder used the energy to open the fourth quarter on a 9-3 run to get within 12 points with 8:35 left. But just like Game 6 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals, Klay Thompson caught fire.

Thompson drained a jumper, swished a 3-pointer, knocked down some free throws and threw down a one-handed slam on his way to tallying 10 fourth quarter points as the Warriors held off the Thunder down the stretch.

Westbrook was phenomenal in the loss, finishing with 47 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Oladipo scored 20 points while Steven Adams added 13 points but only three rebounds.

Thompson and Steph Curry added 26 points each as the Warriors improve to 46-8.

The Thunder will be back in action on Monday when they hit the road to take on the Washington Wizards.