OAKLAND, Calif.— Russell Westbrook promised to pay back Zaza Pachulia for a hard foul.
Kevin Durant had the last word against his old team — again.
Durant dazzled with a season-best 40 points, and the Golden State Warriors beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-100 on Wednesday night despite Westbrook’s 21st triple-double.
Westbrook had 27 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists in an improved showing from his 20-point outing on 4-for-15 shooting when OKC first faced Durant here 2 1/2 months ago and watched him dismantle the Thunder from every which way.
“You can’t deny the history obviously with him with OKC,” Stephen Curry said. “It’s one of those games the intensity is high and at all costs you want to get the win.”
In his two games against the Thunder, Durant has scored 79 points on 28-for-40 shooting. He hit seven 3-pointers in the first meeting, a 122-96 Warriors rout Nov. 3 at Oracle Arena. Durant also had 12 rebounds Wednesday.
“The efficiency of this guy is just amazing. He’s not going to win the MVP because there are a lot of people out there who are playing extremely well,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “But I don’t think anybody’s more efficient. He doesn’t need the ball and he still scores big numbers.”
Curry added 24 points and eight assists, and Klay Thompson had 14 points after he arrived back in the Bay Area just in time to play after a short absence dealing with a personal family matter.
This one had tension, which just might be the norm from here on out whenever Durant faces the Thunder. There were words exchanged and stare downs, and of course a few hard fouls — then an occasional smile to balance things out, like when Durant missed on a driving tomahawk jam and the ball shot back to midcourt. This atmosphere wasn’t that much different from two days earlier when the champion Cavaliers visited Golden State’s home floor and left with an embarrassing 126-91 defeat.
Enes Kanter added 22 points and nine rebounds off the bench for the Thunder, who missed center Steven Adams for a second straight game with a concussion.
Westbrook shot just 8 for 23 this time and missed all but one of his six 3-point tries, but made 10 of 11 free throws.
He also had 10 turnovers, including a travel on which he took five steps before beginning to put the ball to the floor — “He forgot to dribble. … I guess the limit is six steps,” Curry said.
PACERS 106, KINGS 100
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Paul George scored 24 points, Jeff Teague had 22 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, and the Pacers used a big second half to rally for the road win.
Indiana trailed by as many as 22 points in the first half, and then outscored Sacramento 65-40 in the final two quarters to win for the seventh time in eight games.
Reserve Al Jefferson had 20 points in 17 minutes for the Pacers, and Myles Turner had 16 points.
DeMarcus Cousins had 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for Sacramento, which lost Rudy Gay to a torn left Achilles tendon in the third quarter. It was Cousins’ fifth career triple-double.
The Kings closed out a 1-6 homestand and have dropped eight of 10 overall.
76ERS 94, RAPTORS 89
PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid scored 26 points, Ersan Ilyasova added 18 and resurgent Philadelphia won for the seventh time in nine games.
Embiid, who was questionable because of the flu, surpassed 20 points in fewer than 30 minutes in his 10th straight game.
With Embiid leading the way, the Sixers are no longer the NBA’s laughingstock. They’re only 14-26 but have rejuvenated a city that has patiently waited for a winner through three miserable seasons.
DeMar DeRozan scored 25 for the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors, and Kyle Lowry had 24 points.
WIZARDS 104, GRIZZLIES 101
WASHINGTON — John Wall had 25 points and 13 assists, and the Wizards earned their 13th consecutive home win.
James Ennis III missed a potential tying 3-pointer at the buzzer for Memphis.
The Wizards are just 4-13 on the road but now 18-6 at home, where they’ve compiled their longest winning streak since a 15-game run in the 1988-89 season.
Washington never trailed and led by as many as 19 points in the first half, then held on after a 10-0 run by Memphis made it a two-point game with 2 1/2 minutes left. That’s when Wall took over, scoring on consecutive drives.
Marc Gasol led Memphis with 28 points, and Mike Conley had 20.
ROCKETS 111, BUCKS 92
HOUSTON — James Harden had 38 points, eight assists and six rebounds, powering the Rockets to the win.
Harden drilled a straightaway 3-pointer with six minutes left to give Houston a 13-point lead and shimmied his shoulders down the court in a celebratory dance as the Bucks called timeout.
Eric Gordon made seven 3-pointers and scored 25 points for the Rockets, who had dropped three of four.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 32 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocks for Milwaukee, which was outscored 30-12 in the second quarter.
KNICKS 117, CELTICS 106
BOSTON — Derrick Rose matched his season high with 30 points, helping the slumping Knicks to the road win.
New York played without injured starters Kristaps Porzingis and Joakim Noah, but Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Willy Hernangomez each scored 17 points. It was just the third win in 14 games for the Knicks.
Isaiah Thomas led Boston with 39 points.
HORNETS 107, TRAIL BLAZERS 85
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kemba Walker scored 23 points, Roy Hibbert provided a huge boost off the bench, and Charlotte stopped a five-game slide.
Nicolas Batum added 17 points for the Hornets, who limited the Trail Blazers to 35 percent shooting and snapped an eight-game streak of allowing at least 100 points. Hibbert, who came in averaging 5.2 points per game, had a season-high 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting, including an alley-oop pass intended for Frank Kaminsky that inadvertently went in.
Damian Lillard scored 21 points and C.J. McCollum had 18 for Portland.
PISTONS 118, HAWKS 95
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Reggie Jackson scored 26 points to lead the balanced Pistons to the win.
Each of Detroit’s starters scored in double figures, and the Pistons shot 49.5 percent from the field. Tobias Harris had 19 points, Reggie Bullock finished with 15 and Andre Drummond added 13 points and 17 rebounds.
Detroit raced out to a 42-18 first-quarter lead and never trailed.
Paul Millsap had 21 points and eight rebounds for the Hawks.
PELICANS 118, MAGIC 98
NEW ORLEANS — Anthony Davis had 21 points and 15 rebounds, and New Orleans cruised past short-handed Orlando.
Tyreke Evans and Langston Galloway added 18 points apiece for the Pelicans, who never trailed after the first quarter and extended their lead to as many as 28 points.
Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton each had 14 points for Orlando.