LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Oklahoma City dealt short-handed Golden State a fifth straight National Basketball Association defeat Thursday, the Warriors unable to contain the explosive young Thunder side in the absence of Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points to lead the Thunder and Isaiah Joe added 23 off the bench as six Thunder players scored in double figures in a convincing 128-109 victory.
The Warriors had seven players score in double figures, with Jonathan Kuminga leading the way with 21 points and six rebounds.
But sharp-shooter Klay Thompson made just one of his 11 shots from the floor on the way to five points.
Warriors star Curry was again sidelined with a troublesome knee while Green was serving the first game of his five-game suspension for grabbing Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert around the neck during a loss to the Timberwolves on Tuesday.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters before the game that Green, who was ejected after throwing an arm around Gobert’s neck and dragging him across the court, “definitely took it too far.”
Kerr said he had no objection to Green reacting to Gobert’s contact with Golden State’s Thompson — after Thompson tangled with Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels — but he said Green crossed a line.
