Warriors out to win ‘in name of Kevin’

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Golden State Warriors have made this trip so many times already. As the Warriors gathered for practice on Wednesday at Oracle Arena, though, this felt different.

“It hit me a little bit today driving here,” Warriors guard Shaun Livingston said.

The reason? The Warriors were playing the Toronto Raptors in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Thursday in what marked the team’s final game at Oracle Arena. The Warriors will move next season to Chase Center in San Francisco.

Draymond Green called the development “bittersweet” because of the organization’s 47-year history at Oracle Arena. The Warriors have also become emotional lately because they lost a player who helped them win two consecutive NBA titles with two Finals MVP’S. They played Game 6 without Kevin Durant, who had surgery Wednesday to repair a rupture in his right Achilles tendon.

“I expect us to obviously come out and play as hard as we can,” Klay Thompson said. “We’re not even thinking about the future. We’re just thinking about enjoying this last show at Oracle we’re about to give our fans. And I expect our fans to be the loudest they have ever been, especially in the name of Kevin and bringing his type of spirit he would bring to the fight. I know our fans will do that because we deserve it, but more importantly Kevin does for what he gave this team and this organization.”

The Warriors didn’t have time to be crying tears because Durant was not on the court. The Warriors won Game 5 without Durant by relying on their other All-stars to make key plays. Klay Thompson and Steph Curry hit key threepointers. Thompson and Green also made two key defensive stops. Could the Warriors make those plays again?

“I’m sure the fans will be fully engaged and there’s going to be a lot of emotions and a lot of passion in the building, so it’s going to be an epic night,” Demarcus Cousins said. “This team is together regardless. Obviously, we got one more thing to kind of motivate us. Obviously we want to come out and try to win this thing for (Kevin) as well. So I guess you can say it’s another added motivation.”