Westbrook, Durant make a little magic together in 192-182 All-Star win.
Durant-Westbrook alley-oop put the stars briefly back in alignment
NEW ORLEANS — Steve Kerr didn’t wait long to deliver NBA fans what they’d been dreaming about all weekend. His first substitution came midway through the first quarter: Russell Westbrook for Steph Curry with Kevin Durant still on the court.
The former teammates turned feuding opponents were teammates again, at least temporarily, creating the spiciest sequence in the Western Conference’s 192-182 All-Star win on Sunday night in New Orleans.
All weekend, the two avoided both each other and the topic, ignoring questions about the bubbling rift. But now they were on the court together,
pushed into a forced interaction on a national stage. And finally, for the first time since Durant divorced Westbrook and the Thunder last July Fourth, they had a lighthearted, tensioneasing moment together.
“That’s the beauty of the game,” Kerr said. “You just let the game break the ice.”
A couple possessions after Westbrook entered, he hit Druant with a pass near the middle of the key. As he did, Westbrook bolted by his defender and Durant returned the favor, tossing a give-and-go lob to Westbrook — the type of highlight the two combined on so many times over the years.
Right after Westbrook dunked it, the East called timeout. Westbrook pointed upcourt to Durant, signaling ‘good pass’ and Durant nodded in his direction. As the two walked toward the huddle, their smiling teammates awaited, ready to mob them.
“It was cute,” Draymond Green said.
Durant and Westbrook sheepishly smiled as their fellow West All-Stars, sensing what the moment meant for a soured friendship in an awkward spot, jumped around, clapped and laughed. Stephen Curry tossed water on the celebration.
“I saw some ice flying,” Kerr said. “Took a couple minutes to wipe up the ice and water.”
After the game, both Durant and Westbrook downplayed the sequence
“He threw a lob,” Westbrook said. “That’s all that happened. Just threw a lob. It’s basketball. That’s it.”
“It was a good play,” Durant said. “Good catch. Good finish.”
But that’s the lone court connection the two would have. Kerr pulled Durant from the game after the timeout and the substitution patterns the rest of the night didn’t match them up again. They only played a total of 82 seconds together.
But there were other scenarios to monitor. Kerr promised before the game that he’d play all four of his Warriors — Durant, Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green — all together at one point.
Kerr finally uncorked the lineup midway through the third quarter. The fifth member was Anthony Davis, the hometown star who scored an All-Star record 52 points and won MVP in front of his New Orleans fans.
While together, the four Warriors had a few nice moments, including a slick Curry dribble move and find for a Durant dunk. But Kerr only kept them on the court for a few minutes.
Later in the second half, Curry provided one of the night’s lighter moments. After getting dunked on by Giannis Antetokounmpo a possession earlier, Curry dropped flat on the ground and stretched out as Antetokounmpo drove and jammed in another dunk right over the top of him.
It was about equal to the rest of the defensive deterrence played on this night, as the teams combined for 374 points and some of the talk postgame was about potentially incentivizing players in the future to play better defense.
“I don’t know if you can maybe get their charities involved or winner-take-all type thing, but I think it’s possible to play a lot harder without taking a charge,” Kerr said. “We know what silly is out there, if you’re undercutting guys, but it’s almost gone too far the other way where there’s just no resistance at all. I think there’s a happy medium in there somewhere.”
Durant finished with a triple-double (the fourth in NBA All-Star history) — with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Curry had 21 points and six assists. Thompson scored 12, including two 3s and a rare dunk off an out-of-bounds lob from Westbrook. Green had seven rebounds, six assists and three steals in 17 minutes.
In general, despite having four All Stars plus the coaching staff, it was a relatively quiet, relaxing weekend for the Warriors in New Orleans. Thompson was the only Saturday night participant and he was eliminated quickly from the 3-point contest. Curry kept a light schedule.
None of the four guys pushed themselves during a lax game on Sunday. And only Durant was in the headlines, dragging around the Westbrook storyline all weekend before delivering the tiniest feel-good moment in the first quarter.
“This stuff has all been blown up obviously,” Kerr said. “They’re both great guys. It’s basketball. It’s a basketball game. Guys are going to make decisions and players get traded, players get cut. This is all part of the NBA.”