Copy Link Icon
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Golden State Warriors: Live Updates, Score and Highlights
Oklahoma City Thunder vs Golden State Warriors
Oakland, CA
The Golden State Warriors topped the Oklahoma City Thunder by a score of 108-100 in their season opener on Tuesday night. Stephen Curry scored 32 points. Russell Westbrook sat this one out while recovering from knee surgery.
OAKLAND, Calif. -- The NBA is officially back, with the first two games of the season taking place on Tuesday night. After the Celtics defeated the 76ers, we got to see the Warriors in their first step of a quest toward winning a fourth NBA title in five seasons. They faced the depleted Oklahoma City Thunder, who gave a valiant effort despite being without former MVP Russell Westbrook.
Stephen Curry led all scorers with 32 points to go along with nine assists and eight rebounds, while Kevin Durant was his normal offensive force with 27 points. Here are five takeaways from the game.
1. Injuries suck
It was great to see the ring ceremony and all, but the game that followed was deflated by the absence of Russell Westbrook, arguably the game's most entertaining player who has a knack for playing well against the Warriors. No offense to Dennis Schroder, who played very well in his Thunder debut, but the game just wasn't the same without Russ out there doing Russ things. Not to mention that we were robbed of wild overreactions to seemingly insignificant Westbrook-Durant interactions. It's great that the NBA is back, but it would have been nice to have a more entertaining game in the nightcap.
2. George gets cooking
Without Westbrook, there was considerable offensive slack for Paul George to pick up, but there was also added defensive attention from the Warriors' long and formidable defense. It seemed to get to George in the first half, when he shot just 1-for-8 from the field for six points, but he must have found a magical elixir at halftime. He came out of the locker room and torched the Warriors for 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting in the third quarter and brought the Thunder back into the game.
Paul George and Dennis Schröder caught fire to help the @okcthunder close the gap in the third! ⚡️#ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/Qql1A0wdBI — NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 17, 2018
George finished with 27 points on 9-of-23 shooting as the Thunder's unquestioned No. 1 option.
3. Willkommen, Dennis
Everyone's favorite blonde-streaked German point guard was pressed into the starting lineup due to Westbrook's injury, and overcame a slow start to make a solid Thunder debut. OKC has traditionally struggled when Westbrook is off the court, so Schroder was brought in from Atlanta to help keep the team afloat offensively during those minutes. With the injuries to Westbrook and Andre Roberson, he was the best guard on the roster on Tuesday night, and he played like it, including with a wild block on Klay Thompson. Schroder finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists as he became familiar with a recent OKC tradition -- losing to the Golden State Warriors (Thunder are 3-12 against Golden State since the 2014-15 season).
4. Reversible rings are now a thing
When you keep winning titles, you have to come up with new and adventurous championship rings -- well you don't have to, but you can. The Warriors unveiled this year's edition on Tuesday in a pregame ring ceremony, and it has a new feature -- it's reversible. What on earth is a reversible ring, you might ask? Take a look for yourself.
First reversible championship ring ever! Jason of Beverly Hills coming through with some innovative work in the championship hardware department. 🏆💍 #DubNation pic.twitter.com/wlxCXZQuQw — Golden State Warriors (@warriors) October 17, 2018
Can't wait to see what Golden State whichever team wins the title comes up with next year.
5. Center by committee
The Warriors may not yet have the services of DeMarcus Cousins, but, if Tuesday was any indication, the center position is in good hands. First-time starter Damian Jones (12 points, three rebounds) and 22-year-old Kevon Looney (10 points, 10 rebounds) held down the fort admirably, putting up numbers and making momentum-changing plays on both ends. They may not do this every night, but it's clear that they both grasp the system and will fill in nicely while the team waits for Cousins. Jordan Bell, who many pegged as the heir-apparent at starting center before losing out to Jones in camp, only played seven minutes. He had a great sequence when he blocked two shots on the same possession, but it appears he's third on the depth chart at this point.
Live updates from opening night
CBS Sports was with you live from both opening night games, which you can recap below. If you are unable to view the live application below, please click here.
Thanks for stopping by.
OAKLAND, Calif. -- The NBA is officially back, with the first two games of the season taking place on Tuesday night. After the Celtics defeated the 76ers, we got to see the Warriors in their first step of a quest toward winning a fourth NBA title in five seasons. They faced the depleted Oklahoma City Thunder, who gave a valiant effort despite being without former MVP Russell Westbrook.
Stephen Curry led all scorers with 32 points to go along with nine assists and eight rebounds, while Kevin Durant was his normal offensive force with 27 points. Here are five takeaways from the game.
1. Injuries suck
It was great to see the ring ceremony and all, but the game that followed was deflated by the absence of Russell Westbrook, arguably the game's most entertaining player who has a knack for playing well against the Warriors. No offense to Dennis Schroder, who played very well in his Thunder debut, but the game just wasn't the same without Russ out there doing Russ things. Not to mention that we were robbed of wild overreactions to seemingly insignificant Westbrook-Durant interactions. It's great that the NBA is back, but it would have been nice to have a more entertaining game in the nightcap.
2. George gets cooking
Without Westbrook, there was considerable offensive slack for Paul George to pick up, but there was also added defensive attention from the Warriors' long and formidable defense. It seemed to get to George in the first half, when he shot just 1-for-8 from the field for six points, but he must have found a magical elixir at halftime. He came out of the locker room and torched the Warriors for 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting in the third quarter and brought the Thunder back into the game.
Paul George and Dennis Schröder caught fire to help the @okcthunder close the gap in the third! ⚡️#ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/Qql1A0wdBI — NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 17, 2018
George finished with 27 points on 9-of-23 shooting as the Thunder's unquestioned No. 1 option.
3. Willkommen, Dennis
Everyone's favorite blonde-streaked German point guard was pressed into the starting lineup due to Westbrook's injury, and overcame a slow start to make a solid Thunder debut. OKC has traditionally struggled when Westbrook is off the court, so Schroder was brought in from Atlanta to help keep the team afloat offensively during those minutes. With the injuries to Westbrook and Andre Roberson, he was the best guard on the roster on Tuesday night, and he played like it, including with a wild block on Klay Thompson. Schroder finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists as he became familiar with a recent OKC tradition -- losing to the Golden State Warriors (Thunder are 3-12 against Golden State since the 2014-15 season).
4. Reversible rings are now a thing
When you keep winning titles, you have to come up with new and adventurous championship rings -- well you don't have to, but you can. The Warriors unveiled this year's edition on Tuesday in a pregame ring ceremony, and it has a new feature -- it's reversible. What on earth is a reversible ring, you might ask? Take a look for yourself.
First reversible championship ring ever! Jason of Beverly Hills coming through with some innovative work in the championship hardware department. 🏆💍 #DubNation pic.twitter.com/wlxCXZQuQw — Golden State Warriors (@warriors) October 17, 2018
Can't wait to see what Golden State whichever team wins the title comes up with next year.
5. Center by committee
The Warriors may not yet have the services of DeMarcus Cousins, but, if Tuesday was any indication, the center position is in good hands. First-time starter Damian Jones (12 points, three rebounds) and 22-year-old Kevon Looney (10 points, 10 rebounds) held down the fort admirably, putting up numbers and making momentum-changing plays on both ends. They may not do this every night, but it's clear that they both grasp the system and will fill in nicely while the team waits for Cousins. Jordan Bell, who many pegged as the heir-apparent at starting center before losing out to Jones in camp, only played seven minutes. He had a great sequence when he blocked two shots on the same possession, but it appears he's third on the depth chart at this point.
Live updates from opening night
CBS Sports was with you live from both opening night games, which you can recap below. If you are unable to view the live application below, please click here.
Thanks for stopping by.
STEPHEN Curry had 32 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, Kevin Durant added 27 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and the Golden State Warriors opened their quest for a three-peat by holding off the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-100 on Wednesday (AEDT).
Golden State needed a strong fourth quarter to win on a festive night after the two-time defending champions received their 2018 rings in a pregame ceremony shortly before tipoff and began the final season at Oracle Arena before a move across San Francisco Bay to new Chase Center .
“It’s a great move for the organization. We know that but this place is special, so we want to make sure this is a special season,” coach Steve Kerr said.
Klay Thompson shot just 5 of 20 for 14 points while center Damian Jones scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting for the Warriors in his first career start and 26th game.
Paul George scored 27 points for the Thunder, who struggled to find an offensive groove while missing star Russell Westbrook because of knee surgery last month. Oklahoma City trailed by 10 at the break then came out of halftime making 9-of-12 shots to go ahead 69-66 before the Warriors rallied.
Versatile Warriors All-Star Draymond Green, limited during the preseason by a sore knee, wound up with two points, 13 rebounds and five assists in nearly 33 minutes. Kerr plans to monitor his minutes in the early games.
“He told me if you look tired, I’m taking you out, so, maybe I’ll try to hide it,” Green joked at morning shootaround.
Curry, who shot 11 for 20 with five 3s, notched 17 30-point performances during his injury-shortened 2017-18 season.
These teams met in a season opener for the first time - though the Warriors won on the road against the Seattle SuperSonics in 1983.
Golden State lost last year’s opener at Oracle after a title run, 122-121 to the Rockets.
Re-live!
