Warriors fade late, fall to Thunder 120-109

BOX SCORE

Kevin Durant scored 37 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a victory over the Warriors on Friday night at Oracle. Durant went 12-for-24 from the field and 11-for-11 from the foul line. The Warriors are now 1-3 on their current six-game homestand.Thunder 120, Warriors 109Star of the game: Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook dominated his matchup against Stephen Curry on Friday night, finishing with 28 points, 11 assists and six rebounds.Westbrook struggled last season against the Warriors, shooting 14-for-45 from the field (31.1 percent) and committing 17 turnovers in three games.
Curry, on the other hand, didnt have it going. He finished with just 15 pointson 6-for-16 shootingsix assists and two rebounds. Effort issue: Warriors coach Mark Jackson was critical of his teams effort level after the game, saying more than once that the Thunders motor ran higher than the Warriors'.Jackson was particularly critical of the Warriors big men. He didnt mention Andris Biedrins and Ekpe Udoh by name, but he didnt have to. Jackson used Jeremy Tyler for a good chunk of the fourth quarter.Their big guys played with a different motor, Jackson said. Im going to find guys that are going to play with a motor. I will live with mistakes. But I need guys to play with energy, effort, passion, and pursue the basketball. You can make mistakes, but in general that team from top to bottom had a different motor. And anybody that didnt see that is fooling themselves. Weve got to learn to play like that.Key stretch: With the Warriors hanging around at 92-86, Durant went to work. He knocked down a 3-pointer with five-and-a-half minutes left, then dunked on fastbreak to put OKC up 11.Westbrook capped the run with a three-point play off a drive to put the Thunder up 100-86.Ibaka, too: Oklahoma City power forward Serge Ibaka finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, and it was a night that wasnt lost on Jackson.Serge Ibaka did what weve been asking our big guys to do, Jackson said.It was Ibakas first double-double of the season.Sefalosha leaves game: Thabo Sefalosha, Oklahoma Citys starting shooting guard, played only 11 minutes and none in the second half. He didnt return after experiencing soreness in his right foot.Thompson emerging: Warriors rookie Klay Thompson has begun to settle nicely into his role off the bench. Thompson looks much more confident than he did at the start of the season, and hes shooting the ball from the perimeter very well.Thompson knocked down two of three 3-pointers in the first half against the Thunder, which meant he had made 15 of his past 30 up to that point.Robinsons leer: Nate Robinson hit a shot beyond halfcourt to end the first quarter, then stayed near midcourt for about 10 seconds glaring at the Oklahoma City Thunder bench.Robinson played for the Thunder last season, but the sides decided to mutually part ways before training camp this season. Robinsons heave cut the Thunders lead to 28-23 after 12 minutes.First quarter struggles: Curry and Ellis struggled in the first period, unable to find their range. Curry missed all five of his field goal attempts and Ellis was 1-for-5 from the floor.Meanwhile, Westbrook had nine in the first quarter on 3-for-7 shooting.Sixth sellout: There were 19,596 at Oracle on Friday night, the sixth sellout of the season for the Warriors.