Durant back as Warriors overpower Philadelphia 76ers
LOS ANGELES: Kevin Durant returned from injury with a bang on Monday, scoring 27 points as the Golden State Warriors overpowered the Philadelphia 76ers 119-108.
Durant, who missed the Warriors previous game with a bruised left hand, showed no sign of lingering after-effects to help power the Dubs to their fourth straight victory.
The Warriors, who are already assured of a place in the playoffs, improved to a league best 50-9 after rattling up their seventh win in eight games.
Klay Thompson added 21 points for Golden State, while Zaza Pachulia scored a season best 16 points.
Draymond Green chipped in with 14 points, 11 rebounds and five steals.
But it was a rare off-night for Stephen Curry. The Warriors star contributed a respectable 19 points but drew a blank from three-point range, missing all 11 of his attempts.
It was only the third time in 211 games Curry has failed to connect with at least one three-pointer.
“I forgot to adjust to the thickness of the air,” Curry joked. “It happens, but you have to find other ways to impact the game.”
The Warriors eventually pulled clear against an under-powered Sixers team early in the fourth quarter, moving into a 99-87 lead.
The Sixers fought back however when Golden State’s David West was called for a flagrant after a clash with Dario Saric.
Saric drained two free throws before Nik Stauskas scored to cut the Warriors lead to 99-91 with just under eight minutes left.
But that was the cue for a sustained scoring run by the Warriors, with West making three assists in quick succession to help Golden State into MUSCAT: Team Al Mouj Muscat (OMA) have kept their dreams of dethroning EFG Sailing Arabia — The Tour (SATT) champions EFG Bank Monaco (MON) alive by pipping them to victory in the nail-biting final offshore leg of the Arabian classic. In one of the closest leg finishes ever seen in seven editions of SATT, Team Al Mouj Muscat snuck across the Leg 5 finish line in Dubai just one second ahead of EFG Bank Monaco after 34 hours of intense racing from Doha. The two rival crews traded blows – and positions — throughout the 205-nautical mile leg, the fifth and final stage that makes up the 763nm race around the Arabian Gulf. They came into the finish line off Dubai’s iconic Palm Jumeriah late last night neck and neck but Team Al Mouj Muscat, under the leadership of French sailor Christian Ponthieu, just nudged ahead to pick up their first offshore win of the event. Crucially the win moves Team Al Mouj Muscat to within two points of their arch rivals ahead of tomorrow’s final showdown of EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour, a series of up to three in-port races. EFG Bank Monaco have been crowned EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour champions the past three years but Team Al Mouj Muscat, runners-up in 2016, could usurp them if they can better their rivals around the short racecourse. Team Al Mouj Muscat crew member Sultan al Balushi said: “Everyone is exhausted but we’re really happy. It was a big contest between us and EFG that lasted more than 40 hours, and finally we won. This is what we need to keep our hopes of winning overall alive, and now we’re going to continue fighting for first place.” The result is pending a protest brought by EFG Bank Monaco against Team Al Mouj Muscat, who they allege sailed into a restricted zone. “We don’t like to protest other teams but it’s part of our job, part of the game,” said Thierry Douillard, skipper of EFG Bank Monaco.
The Leg 5 podium was completed by Adelasia di Torres, SATT’s newest team from Italy. Skipper Renato Azara said it was proof that his team could hold their own against the more seasoned crews. “We have been growing with every leg, and this result is confirmation that we are becoming more and more confident,” he said. “We are very happy because it was not easy, all the teams are very strong, but finishing in Dubai on the podium is the result we’ve all been looking for.”
In another close contest, Team Renaissance (OMA) finished fourth ahead of Team Zain (KUW) to consolidate their third place on the overall leaderboard. “We were under a lot of pressure from Team Zain the entire leg,” Team Renaissance crewman Sami al Shukali said. “We had a good start but the winds were very shifty and Team Zain passed us. We caught them up in the last ten miles and thankfully led them all the way to the finish line. Our goal this year has always been to finish SATT on the podium after missing out by one point last year, and this result in Leg 5 is a huge step towards us doing that.”
DB Schenker (GER) took sixth ahead of Team Averda (GBR), while Bienne Indiana bt Houston ....................... 117-108 Dallas bt Miami ................................ 96-89 Atlanta bt Boston ............................ 114-98 Toronto bt NY Knicks ......................... 92-91 Golden State bt Philadelphia ........ 119-108 Cleveland bt Milwaukee ................. 102-95 a 106-92 lead minutes to go.
“I thought we played a really good game,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. “We just couldn’t make a shot. But we made up for it by getting to the free-throw line.”
Sixers coach Brett Brown said even despite Curry’s off-night, the depth of the Warriors offense had been hard to counter.
“At times, we got lucky with them as a team,” Brown said. “They didn’t shoot it the way a team would normally shoot it.” with just Voile (SUI) retired from Leg 5 after running aground on a small island west of Abu Dhabi. No-one was injured and their yacht sustained only minor damage before being towed to deeper water by the EFG SATT committee boat.
Following the conclusion of the Dubai inport race series a closing ceremony will take place at Oceana Beach Club, during which the winners of SATT 2017 will be crowned under the patronage of Sheikh Khalid bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE Sailing and Rowing Federation and wit the presence of Dr Khalid bin Said al Jaradi, Oman Ambassador to the UAE. LEG 5 (DOHA – DUBAI) RESULTS: 1.Team Al Mouj Muscat (OMA/Christian Ponthieu) – 2 points 2.EFG Bank Monaco (MON/Thierry Douillard) – 4 points 3.Adelasia di Torres (ITA/Renato Azara) – 6 points 4.Team Renaissance (OMA/Fahad Al Hasni) – 8 points 5.Team Zain (KUW/Cedric Pouligny) – 10 points 6.DB Schenker (GER/Annemeike Bes) – 12 points 7.Team Averda (GBR/Andrew Baker) – 14 points 8.Bienne Voile (SUI/Lorenz Mueller) – 18 points under six OVERALL RESULTS: 1.EFG Bank Monaco (MON/Thierry Douillard) – 12 points 2.Team Al Mouj Muscat Ponthieu) – 14 points 3.Team Renaissance (OMA/Fahad Al Hasni) – 27.75 points 4.Team Zain (KUW/Cedric Pouligny) – 34 points 5.Adelasia di Torres (ITA/Renato Azara) – 42.75 points 6.Team Averda (GBR/Andrew Baker) – 50.75 points 7.DB Schenker (GER/Annemeike Bes) – 54.25 points 8.Bienne Voile (SUI/Lorenz Mueller) – 55.50 points (OMA/Christian
JAMES POWERS CAVS LeBron James shrugged off his recent illness to post 24 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers outlasted the Milwaukee Bucks 102-95 on Monday.
Reigning NBA finals MVP James added 10 rebounds and six assists as Cleveland bounced back from Saturday’s defeat to Chicago to cement their place at the top of the Eastern Conference.
The Cavaliers improved to 41-17 with the win as Cleveland completed a strong February which saw them compile a 9-2 record over the month.
Kyrie Irving led the scoring with 25 points and nine assists, his ninth consecutive game with at least 20 points. Derrick Williams (14) and Kyle Korver (13) also provided useful points off the bench along with Richard Jefferson who added 11.
Malcolm Brogdon led the Bucks scoring with 20 points.