OAKLAND, Calif. -- There was no Russell Westbrook third-quarter magic, no bolt of lightning from a team ready to stage another momentous comeback, no heroics, no chutzpah from so many pining to look at the Warriors and scoff, pretenders.

Just Golden State reverting to form, amid diligent defense and a return of Stephen Curry excellence that seared a reminder for all of us that the established order will not go quietly into the offseason, Game 1 loss or otherwise.

And make no mistake: Coded in the Warriors' 118-91 dismantling of the Thunder on Wednesday night in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals was confirmation they are just that. The established order. No team is better in the league -- perhaps no team is better, ever, in league history -- until someone stops them in a seven-game series.

To quote Quentin Tarantino, Kill Bill and warriors everywhere: You didn't think it was gonna be that easy, did you?

This Warriors team won 73 games for a reason. Curry is not the league's back-to-back NBA Most Valuable Player (and now its only unanimous winner) from luck. Vegas had the Warriors as clear favorites to win it all entering Wednesday's game because they are, and always were, the clear favorites in this series.

Especially -- and because of -- the doubters. It's why, after losses this season, the Warriors are 11-0 and averaging 121.3 points, 52 percent field-goal shooting, 46 percent on 3-point shots and a scoring margin of plus-15.

It's why, well beyond coincidence, Curry responded to Westbrook's Game 1 third-quarter heroics with some third-quarter mastery of his own. He had 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting and helped push his team's lead from eight to 20, nearly outscoring the Thunder in the quarter by himself. After Kevin Durant fouled him hard and knocked him to the ground, Curry scored 14 of those points. And he notched 15 in 1:58, an utter blur of basketball brilliance.

Curry finished with 28 points on just 15 shots. Draymond Green had 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. In total, seven Warriors scored in double-digits, and Golden State won the battles the Thunder cannot afford to lose: rebounding (45-36), points in the paint (48-42) and turnovers (12-16).

But the most important part of the Warriors' resurgence, if not its most dazzling, was the defense. They held the Thunder to 91 points, only the fifth time they've scored 91 points or fewer all season.

Durant did score 29, but he had just six in the second half. Westbrook was 5 of 14 with 16 points, and his 12 assists weren't nearly enough to get his team going.

This series, in either direction, is far from over. The Thunder proved their mettle when they mowed down the Spurs in the last series, and their Game 1 win here in Oakland means they did what they needed to: split on the road and wrestle home-court advantage from the Warriors.

But the Warriors' response was a counterpunch that shows the league's best team has more than enough fight left. Curry's greatness, their underrated defense, and the deep depth well beyond the trifecta of Curry-Thompson-Green means nothing can be taken lightly against this group. No lead is safe. No legitimate threat can lose track who is the hunted and who is the hunter. The Warriors are chasing history, and the greatness and the swagger that seemed strangely missing in Game 1 emerged in full force in Game 2.

It is easy to forget that in last year's NBA Finals the Cavaliers did much the same thing: Captured a split at Oracle to open the series, returned home and promptly won Game 3 to go up 2-1 ... and then were overpowered.

Yes, LeBron James had little to no help. But it's also true Curry was a brutal 5 for 23 in that Game 2 loss against the Cavs, and then, once comfortable, he reverted to form. And an impending Cleveland miracle evaporated, faster than the eye could see.

The rest for Curry is history -- the championship, the following season's 402 3-pointers, the 73 wins, the MVP, the adulation, the place atop the game. We all blinked, and there he was -- standing above, at least for the moment, looking down on a game and league that so often overlooked him.

And the point is this: It's just when you think you have the Warriors where you want them -- or have Curry finally exposed -- that you turn around and they've left you in the dustbin of their own hard-to-fathom, all-time great history.

The Warriors are back.

No, check that.

The Warriors never went anywhere. And after Game 2, they might just be getting started.

curryreiter.jpg
Steph Curry does most of his damage in a 17-point third quarter Tuesday night. (USATSI)