National Basketball Association

Watch Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook viciously block each other's shots

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:47 p.m. ET

Andrew Lynch

In the days and hours leading up to Thursday night's meeting between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors, both Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant tried to explain that their first matchup as opponents would be just like any other game.

As you can probably guess, that turned out to be a lie — as Westbrook and Durant took turns serving up massive blocks on one another.

KD started the back-and-forth with what in retrospect appears might be a foul on his former Thunder teammate:

Durant correctly was not credited with a block on that one, but the tone was set. Late in the second quarter, Westbrook got his revenge with a perfectly timed block on KD:

That was the last good thing to happen for the Thunder before the end of the half. Draymond Green and KD responded to team up for their own rejection on Westbrook (for what it's worth, though Durant swats the ball out of bounds, Green was credited with the block):

Then Durant threw down a huge dunk — and shot a glance in Westbrook's general direction:

Just for good measure, KD pulled up for a couple of backbreaking 3s to end the half:

And he got into a bit of a conversation with the Thunder bench, specifically Enes Kanter:

The Warriors outscored the Thunder 37-11 in the second quarter and entered halftime with a 68-43 lead, but Durant wasn't finished. He just kept punishing his ex-associates, adding a couple of emphatic dunks in the second half:

Durant finished with 39 points on 15-of-24 shooting (including 7-of-11 on 3s), seven rebounds, one assist and a block as the Warriors cruised to a 122-96 victory. Westbrook tallied 20 points on 4-of-15 shooting, 10 assists, six rebounds and six turnovers.

While the two superstars each had their moments, KD emerged as the clear winner in this one. Maybe next time, Westbrook won't troll Durant before the game.