[Box Score](https://www.nba.com/game/okc-vs-gsw-0022500484/box-score?ref=dailythunder.com) | [Play-by-Play](https://www.nba.com/game/okc-vs-gsw-0022500484/play-by-play?ref=dailythunder.com)
### Nuggets and Notes
* On back-to-back nights, the Oklahoma City Thunder steamrolled an inferior opponent. Look, I enjoy a fun, close, competitive game as much as the next person, but I also find plenty of enjoyment when the Thunder just wreck an opponent.
* I acknowledge that the Warriors were missing Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler III, De’Anthony Melton, and Jonathan Kuminga. That certainly contributed to the lopsided score.
* Oklahoma City jumped on Golden State immediately, leading by 11 after the first quarter. In the second, the Warriors went on a 9-0 run to make the score 38-36, and millions of Thunder fans were like, "oh no, are we really going to let the Warriors hang around?"
* The answer was no.
* The Thunder responded in a big way, went on a 14-2 tear, and before you could say Brandin Podziemski, the Thunder led 52-38. Game over.
* Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 30 points on 10-of-20 shooting was surgical, as SGA showed off his true ability to score at all three levels (10-of-20 from the field, 3-of-5 from three), while distributing (7 assists). He's good.
* Chet Holmgren just keeps impressing: 15 points, 15 rebounds, 4 blocks, and only 8 shot attempts. The rim deterrence doesn’t show up fully in the box score, but Golden State finished with just 28 points in the paint as a team.
* Yet again, Lu Dort found his stroke from deep. Dort scored 11 and was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Told you he was fine.
* Oklahoma City’s ball movement was elite all night: 34 assists on 48 made field goals.
* The pace was fast and furious, especially in the first half, and as much as GSW tried to push the pace, it absolutely played into OKC's hands. The Thunder forced 17 turnovers for 26 OKC points, and the champs also racked up 31 fast-break points.
* Great night for the bench: 62 points, with Branden Carlson (along with Aaron Wiggins) leading all bench scorers with 15 points. Carlson also grabbed 11 rebounds to notch the second double-double of his career. As essentially the fourth true big, Carlson is impressively serviceable in that role.
* Carlson is one of those guys that an opponent fan base sees out there contributing, and is like, "who is this and how does Presti find these guys?" Case in point, on the Amazon Prime broadcast they had Warriors-legend Chris Mullin join for a spell. Mullin saw Carlson disrupt a Warriors shot inside and for a moment confused him with Chet Holmgren before realizing that wasn't Chet. He had to ask the broadcast crew who that was.
* Great night for Wiggins, too. Aaron Wiggins scored 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting, including 3 triples.
* I also want to give some props to Ajay Mitchell. Mitchell had a great game playing within himself and the flow of the game. He didn't force up shots to try to add points: 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting and 6 (!) assists in 25 minutes. Way to take what the defense gives you, Ajay.
* The Thunder are tough to beat when they shoot well. OKC shot 52% from the field, 42% from three, and a perfect 19-for-19 at the line.
* As one more point of evidence for how overmatched the Warriors were last night–in the fourth quarter with the benches emptied, OKC still racked up 36 points and won the quarter by 12.
### One Key Takeaway
I'm not just being lazy here. I honestly don't know what you can say about this one. The results was exactly what you would think it would be. The Warriors sans their best players couldn't keep up. The Thunder (a bit shorthanded themselves without Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams) took advantage of the disparity and dismantled Golden State in Oakland.
That's now four straight double-digit wins (three by 25+), and I've almost forgotten those ugly losses to the Spurs.