Durant: Talk comes cheap if all you do is catch, dunk
The Warriors all heard about the quote from Houston center
Clint Capela, who announced, “We’re better than them” after his team beat the Warriors 116-108 on Saturday night.
“It’s all part of the game,” the Warriors’ Kevin Durant said Monday after practice. “They beat us twice this year. Obviously, we’re confident and we feel we’re the best team in the league as well. But we can be beat on any night.”
The Rockets have made no secret about their obsession with beating the Warriors, and with Saturday’s win, they became the third team in Steve
Kerr’s tenure to beat Golden State twice in the same season. But, the Warriors aren’t about to declare Houston their primary opposition.
“They are definitely a challenge,” Kerr said. “They’re a good team. So is Boston, so is Cleveland, so is OKC, so is Toronto, so is San Antonio. There are a lot of good teams out there, and each one poses different threats and challenges, and they’re all unique to themselves. It’s not like it’s us or Houston.”
Durant discounted the words, in part because of who said them.
“You hear that from the guys like Capela, catching the ball and laying it up, because his job is not as hard,” Durant said. “When your job is hard, you know you can’t come out there and say (stuff ) like that. I don’t expect that from (Chris Paul) and James (Harden). They know how hard it is to come out and do that every night. Capela, I mean, catch and dunk every night, so it’s pretty easy.”
It’s an early start on bulletinboard material for the playoffs.
“We don’t want to give those teams that kind of confidence, but we let it happen,” Durant said. “If we end up seeing this team, I’m sure it will be a fun one.”
Iguodala’s status: Andre
Iguodala practiced Monday, but his status for Tuesday night’s game against the Knicks was in question. Kerr said Iguodala was “good ... and we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”
Iguodala was inactive the past two games against Chicago and Houston at the end of a five-game road trip with a left calf injury. He has missed eight games this season, his 14th in the league, with nagging injuries. He averages 5.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists.
Negotiating for Durant? If there is any high-stakes negotiating between All-Star captains
Stephen Curry and LeBron James for the right to select Durant first for the All-Star Game, Durant hasn’t heard about it.
“I doubt it,” he said. “I’m down for anything. I prepared to have to switch out on Steph on the pick-and-roll and force him to the room and block his shot. I look forward to that. And I’m prepared to compete against LeBron if I’m on Steph’s team.”
Durant said he thinks players will play harder and “it will be a better game.”