LUDICROUS TO SAY DURANT IS NOT MISSED
It’s clear the Warriors are a very different team, writes Frank Zicarelli, without their underrated scoring machine.
As preposterous as it sounded, so utterly foolish and completely baseless, there were some who actually thought the Golden State Warriors were better without Kevin Durant.
Anyone with a sane mind can see how the Warriors were different minus the scoring machine known as K.D., whose defence goes largely underrated because he simply can’t be stopped when the ball is in his hands.
Without Durant, the Warriors won a championship.
With Durant, the Warriors entered this season as the NBA’s two-time reigning champions.
Along comes a calf injury during Game 5 of the Western semifinal against Houston and suddenly a dominant go-to guy is no longer available.
A close-out game in Houston gets produced followed by a sweep of Portland in the conference final and suddenly the Warriors enter their fifth NBA Finals on a six-game win streak.
Along comes Game 1 on Thursday and Durant’s injury absence becomes magnified.
It’s all good when the ball moves freely, when everyone is getting touches, the bench is producing, Golden State’s main guys are rolling, and defensive stops are being produced in fourth-quarter winning moments.
But when shots aren’t dropping, the second unit isn’t making a presence, when transition defence becomes an issue, when length and athleticism are exposed, then Durant’s inability to be play takes on new meaning.
With DeMarcus Cousins easing his way back into a rhythm, the minutes he got in Game 1 were welcome.
The big fella has a great feel for the game and he made some spectacular passes, but he’s nowhere near to being that presence when healthy.
With Friday’s announcement from head coach Steve Kerr that Durant won’t play in Sunday’s Game 2, the Warriors find themselves circling the wagons.
The Raptors know Draymond Green won’t allow Pascal Siakam to play like a Scottie Pippen and the Raptors know the Splash Brothers will make more shots.
The unknown applies to Golden State’s bench and the kind of potential impact the Warriors’ reserves will have Sunday and as the series shifts to Oakland’s Oracle Arena as the venue sees the last of the team before the franchise moves across the Bay to San Francisco.
Golden State remains a dangerous, lethal opponent for the simple fact that both Steph Curry and Klay Thompson can take over games by themselves.
Green is the kind of player who always bounces back and his stated mission heading into Sunday is to limit Siakam.
When both Curry and Thompson are lighting up the opposition with their playmaking and shotmaking, Durant’s injury gets mitigated, especially when the Warriors find that other gear on the defensive end.
In Game 1, the Warriors turned the ball over 17 times, while allowing the Raptors to shoot 50 per cent from the field.
The decision was made to double-team Kawhi Leonard, but Siakam and Marc Gasol would combine to score 52 points on 20-of-27 shooting.
Golden State is such a good team that it can still repeat without Durant, but Game 1 revealed the challenges facing the Warriors aren’t at their best.
“I guess we have been sort of holding out hope, but I might as well just say it now,’’ Kerr said Friday when asked about Durant. “He’s not practising today (Friday). We’ll have a practise tomorrow. But he’s still progressing. It’s near impossible for him to play on Sunday.”
There’s a chance Durant may not play at all this series or perhaps will at some point.
“The thinking is when he’s ready to play, he’ll play,” continued Kerr during his media availability. “It’s not like this is a sore ankle or his knee is sore, whatever, and you can play through it.
“This is a tricky one. If you re-injure the calf, then that’s it and then he’s done for the series. So when he’s ready to play, he’ll play. That’s our approach.”
It was Curry who exploded in the second half when the Rockets were eliminated in Game 6, a complete team effort leading to the sweep in the West final.
“He’s done well with his rehab the last couple of days,” Kerr would add about Durant. “He’s continuing to ramp stuff up. And I’m just not going to answer any questions about do we miss him against this team or that team or whatever because it’s just a sound bite and it doesn’t matter.
“The only thing that matters is we have to win the game with what we have and then when he comes back we’ll put him out there. Nothing else matters.”
In the past, Andre Iguodala has spoken about the need to step up offensively when Durant isn’t available.
In Game 1, he went 3-of-7 from the field, including missing all four of his three-balls.