OAKLAND, Calif. — Three Thunder players were injured and Oklahoma City still left Oracle Arena with a lopsided win against the ailing, slumping two-time defending NBA champions.
Russell Westbrook recorded his first triple-double of the season as Oklahoma City defeated the Warriors 123-95 Wednesday night, when Thunder rookie and Queens native Hamidou Diallo was carted off on a stretcher with 7:17 left but avoided a serious injury according to the team after X-rays and Warriors doctors evaluated him.
OKC’s Terrance Ferguson returned from a two-game absence as he welcomed a baby, then went down at the 5:41 mark of the first quarter with a sprained left ankle and didn’t return. Nerlens Noel received stitches after getting hit in the face during the second quarter.
“There’s just been a lot of things on this road trip that have impacted any level of consistency, our rotation, of having any idea of who’s going to be playing,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said.
Diallo’s left leg was stabilized as he was wheeled away to applause from the Oracle Arena crowd. Diallo was credited for rebounding Jonas Jerebko’s missed layup when they both went down hard.