The Warriors completed their three-game season sweep of the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night with their 110-98 win at Paycom Center, thanks to Klay Thompson and Steph Curry draining clutch 3-pointers down the stretch.
The Splash Brothers once again sealed the deal for a Warriors win in OKC. Rinse and repeat. This also was a sneak peek into the future of both franchises as well.
Every year, the No. 1 and No. 2 pick in the NBA draft gets debated, especially when they first face each other in the pros. That only heightens when you have a Greg Oden-Kevin Durant situation, and so many other examples. When it came to Monday night's matchup between the Warriors and Thunder, we got to see the No. 6 pick, Josh Giddey of the Thunder, go up against the No. 7 pick, Jonathan Kuminga of the Warriors.
With our All Access Daily newsletter, stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams!
SIGN UP HERE They both saved their best for last.
"I'm a big fan," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Giddey before the game. "He's a great passer, he's got beautiful feel for the game and at that size, to have that skill set is pretty impressive. He can just see over the defense all the time. He's a great cutter, he just has a knack for being in the right place.
"He's really had a great rookie season and is gonna be a hell of a player."
Giddey scored just seven points with nine rebounds and four assists the first time his Thunder played the Warriors this season on Oct. 26. A few nights later on Oct. 30, he put up 10 points with six assists and four rebounds. The Warriors hadn't seen the 6-foot-8 guard for over three months, and he showed his improvement by nearly putting up a triple-double.
Golden State Warriors
Find the latest Golden State Warriors news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
He scored 16 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and handed out seven assists in 30 minutes in his third clash with Golden State.
But the night belonged much more to Kuminga, who provided an instant spark for the Warriors after their sluggish start.
Kuminga didn't even play the first time these two teams met. He made his NBA debut the second time the Warriors faced the Thunder, playing six minutes off the bench and scoring three points. At this point in the season, we're talking about a whole different Kuminga now.
The Warriors' top pick dropped 16 points in 23 minutes off the bench. He also recorded four rebounds and four assists. Kuminga was a plus-12 in plus-minus, and Giddey was a minus-2.
"I do probably watch a lot more rookies than other guys around the league," Giddey said after the game. "Just the guys I've kind of -- not grown up watching -- but kind of been familiar with just being in the same draft class and getting that chance in New York for the draft week getting to know some of them.
"Yeah, I've been keeping an eye and Kuminga was really good for them tonight."
Kerr was extremely happy with his rookie, for what gets seen in the box score and what doesn't.
"JK's been great," Kerr said of Kuminga. "He had a really nice night tonight. He had a stretch in the first half where he set a beautiful screen for Jordan [Poole]. Jordan went in and got a dunk, and what I loved about that play is [Kuminga] had the ball in his hands earlier in the possession and he just got the ball out of his hands quickly and went up and set the screen.
"It was 0.5 basketball. It was everything we try to preach on a daily basis. JK's starting to feel more and more comfortable with what we're trying to accomplish on the floor. Still got a long way to go but getting better every day."
Giddey now has played in 48 games as a rookie, starting in all of them. He's averaging 12.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. On top of that, he has recorded 11 double-doubles and one triple-double. He has been named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month twice this season, and naming him to the Rising Stars game was an easy decision.
Kuminga is up to 7.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per game, and has recorded one double-double. He said he wasn't upset he wasn't named a Rising Star, though Klay called it a "travesty." His 20.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per 36 minutes paints a bigger picture and better illustrates Kuminga's potential.
That's the most points per 36 minutes out of the top seven picks in the 2021 draft.
Their different circumstances also isn't lost on Giddey. He's averaging 31.4 minutes per game, Kuminga is averaging 13. The Warriors won their 41st game Monday night and the Thunder fell to 17-36.
"Obviously the situations are a bit different for us," Giddey said. "He's on a championship contender, I'm on a rebuilding team. But the minutes he's gotten, he's been very productive. He was pretty good tonight."
RELATED: Like old times: Steph, Klay close out OKC with clutch 3s
Going into the draft, Kuminga seemed to fit the Thunder's rebuilding process as a spectacular athlete but raw prospect. Though his shot needed improvement, and still does, Giddey looked like a win-now prospect after the Australia native was named Rookie of the Year in the NBL last season when he averaged 11.4 points, 7.4 assists and 7.1 rebounds per game at only 18 years old for the Adelaide 36ers. He certainly could have been another playmaker for the Warriors, ready to set up shooters like Curry, Thompson and others while snatching rebounds and scoring when he had to.
The Thunder wound up going with Giddey and the Warriors chose the upside of another teenager in Kuminga. One team is on the path for another top pick in this year's draft and the other has their eyes on getting back to the NBA Finals. Both teams, at this point, have to be happy with their picks -- let us do the debating.
And let us enjoy the show these two can bring to the Western Conference for years to come.