If it weren't for the fact that the Warriors needed as many wins as they could scrounge together until Steph Curry's return to maintain their precarious spot in the tightly contested Western Conference standings, fans might almost feel sorry for how badly Golden State broke Russell Westbrook on Thursday night.
It's not just that Westbrook scored eight points on 3-of-12 shooting and coughed up four turnovers in a 115-91 loss. It's how it happened. During the Warriors' peak world-beating years from 2014 to 2018, every team faced the wrath of the infamous Dubs third quarter, where an already ultra-talented squad would find another gear to embarrass opponents in a head-spinning 12 minutes.