The Warriors dusted the Thunder thanks to a furious third quarter

It was a tit-for-tat game in the first half. The Thunder hung with the defending champion Warriors despite an awful shooting percentage in the first two quarters. Oklahoma City beat Golden State by 17 points in their first meeting and by 20 in the second. There was reason to believe the pendulum would swing the Thunder’s way this time around, too.

But then the third quarter happened, and it reminded the world that this Golden State Warriors team, when playing inspired basketball, is far and away better than most teams in the NBA. And even in an emotional showdown that saw Carmelo Anthony jaw with both Kevin Durant and Draymond Green, the Warriors found their stride with a convincing 112-80 win against a team they very well might see in the playoffs.

The Warriors only led by seven points entering the second half. It was a welcome sign for Thunder fans given Paul George didn’t make a single field goal on nine first-half attempts and since Russell Westbrook shot just 2-of-10 from the field through the first two periods. OKC only needed one of their two faltering stars to heat up if it was going to pick up a third straight win. Just one of the two.

And then it happened.

Anthony and Draymond Green got into it after Green inadvertently whacked Melo in the head while going for a block. Anthony slammed his headband into the hardwood in frustration. Little did he know he was about to wake a sleeping giant.

The Warriors defense was already set to hold the Thunder below 100 points. But their offense hadn’t taken off against OKC’s stingy defense either. That all changed after Melo and Green got into things.

First Durant hit a three. Then he hit a layup. Then Andre Iguodala hit a top-of-the-key triple. And in the final minute of the fourth, Nick Young caught fire and drained back-to-back threes. In all, the Warriors went on a 14-0 run in the final 3:50 of the third quarter. Golden State extended it to a 31-7 run midway through the fourth quarter.

All the while, George only got two shots up in the third quarter. Westbrook shot two-of-five from the field. Melo shot three-of-nine for eight points in the period. The Oklahoma City defense had no answer for Golden State and couldn’t muster up any points of their own.

This game was over.

Golden State seemed to have lost its way. The Warriors had only won five of their last nine games and were .500 between Jan. 30 and the All-Star break. They had continuously gotten off to slow starts and incredible third quarters. Saturday night was no different.

But to do this against a Thunder team that had drubbed them in their past two meetings proves the Warriors may have just needed a challenge to wake them up from their recent slumber. Oklahoma City may have poked a sleeping bear in their 32-point loss to Golden State. If there was any question whether the Warriors had lost a step, they answered that question with five exclamation points on Saturday.

No, they did not.