Russell Westbrook, Eric Bledsoe star on NBA revenge night

Russell Westbrook scored a season-high 34 points and added 10 rebounds and nine assists to help the Oklahoma City Thunder roll past the Golden State Warriors, 108-91.

Whether it was a case of the stars aligning or the super computer that creates the NBA schedule redefining the word genius, the “revenge” matchups on an NBA Wednesday that featured 28 of the league’s 30 teams in action gave basketball fans plenty to be thankful for.

Russell Westbrook squared off against Kevin Durant, Eric Bledsoe went back to the place he didn’t want to be, and Canadian Kelly Olynyk ended his former team’s 16-game win streak.

Here’s a look at how they fared:

Russell Westbrook (W) – 34 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, four steals vs. Kevin Durant

Revenge before Thanksgiving? If you asked Westbrook, he’d probably answer with a question in return, why not?

While the game was about Durant returning to Oklahoma City, it was Westbrook who sought revenge for being abandoned.

With a roster – after the additions of Paul George and Carmelo Anthony – that can now legitimately wield some of its own star power in the face of the mighty Golden State Warriors, Westbrook gave Thunder fans what they’ve been waiting for: a win over Durant.

The reigning MVP had his best game of the young season, scoring a season-high in points to lead the Thunder to a wire-to-wire victory.

After the heartbreak of losing their franchise player to a 73-win team that they held a 3-1 lead against in the Western Conference Finals just over a year ago, Durant stuck the knife in deeper this past summer when he publicly disrespected both his former teammates and coach.

Averaging a triple-double for the entire 2016-17 season proved that hell hath no fury like a Westbrook scorned, and after being unselfish to a fault in order to accommodate George and Anthony so far this season, he took matters into his own hands with a superlative performance.

He even found a little time to mix things up with Durant.

The lopsided victory shows the Thunder have the potential to reclaim their status among the NBA’s elite, while Durant will have to turn to his championship ring for some solace after losing for the first time to Oklahoma City.

Eric Bledsoe (W) – 30 points, seven assists, six rebounds, two steals vs. Phoenix Suns

After essentially being forced to sit the home stretch of last season as Phoenix made a concerted effort to increase its draft lottery odds, Bledsoe’s relationship with the Suns was already on thin ice.

That razor-thin sheet was shattered this season, when Bledsoe expressed his frustration with the Suns’ losing ways via a tweet.

The Suns responded by refusing to play him thereafter and eventually shipped him off to Milwaukee. He showed on this night just how grateful he was. The Suns have played better basketball since the appointment of Jay Triano as head coach and would have liked their chances on their home floor after Giannis Antetokounmpo was ruled out.

Bledsoe was having none of it.

He put in a vintage performance that proved the perfect supporting act to Khris Middleton’s 40-point night, and his stat line would have been all the more impressive if he hadn’t missed seven free throws and turned the ball over seven times. He played excellent defence on Devin Booker, helping restrict the budding star to 8-of-24 shooting from the field, and the Suns to just two points in overtime.

Kelly Olynyk (W) – Six points, six rebounds, one block, one steal vs. Boston Celtics

No disrespectful tweets or passive aggressive messages via the media here. Boston was making every effort to bring in Gordon Hayward this past summer, and so letting go of Olynyk was frankly a matter of business. Nonetheless, it had to hurt the seven-foot centre with a smooth shooting stroke that the team that traded for him on his draft night didn’t want him anymore.

Olynyk, after all, is the man who effectively won Boston its Eastern Conference semifinal Game 7 bout with the Washington Wizards courtesy one of the best bench performances in recent playoff memory. He scored 12 of his 26 points over a decisive three-and-a-half-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, but the Celtics already showed how much they valued loyalty when they traded away Isaiah Thomas.

The former Gonzaga Bulldog may not have put up anywhere near those numbers in this contest, but he made his presence felt with a game-high plus-17 in 20 minutes of action. The Celtics are currently employing Aron Baynes and Daniel Theis at the centre position, and the pair combined for five points, three rebounds and a minus-17 rating.

What had nothing to do with the No. 17? Boston’s win streak.

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