Steph Curry reaches 16,000 career points milestone as Durant-less Warriors take down Thunder.
No Durant, no problem as Warriors find more success away from home
OKLAHOMA CITY >> First, the Warriors gave Thunder fans less to boo about by sitting Kevin Durant while nursing an ankle injury. Then, the Warriors gave Thunder fans little to cheer about by flexing their other All-Star talent.
The Warriors coasted to a 110-88 victory over the Oklahoma City on Saturday, marking the team’s second consecutive road win in a nationally televised game against a marquee opponent without Durant.
This also marked the Warriors’
eighth road win against a team with at least a .600 winning percentage, including two others this week against Denver and Houston.
The Warriors do not sound concerned with Durant’s right ankle contusion. So much that Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Durant will “most likely” return for Monday’s game in San Antonio. DeMarcus Cousins also sat midway through the fourth quarter because of a sore right ankle, which may prompt the Warriors to sit him on at least part of their back-toback in San Antonio (Monday) and Minnesota (Tuesday).
In the meantime, the Warriors managed just fine without one of their top scorers.
No need for the Warriors to fret on who will score when they can also lean on Stephen Curry (33 points) and Klay Thompson (23). No need for the Warriors to worry about who will command the post with DeMarcus Cousins making progress on offense (12 points, six assists) and defense (eight rebounds) before his injury.
No need about the Warriors’ defense when they have Draymond Green to do all the little things (nine points, eight rebounds, six assists). Or when they can depend on Thompson to play a large role in the Thunder’s Paul George (29 points) and Russell Westbrook (seven points) shooting inefficiently (a combined 11-of-41). The Warriors also held the Thunder to 18 assists and forced 16 turnovers.
The Warriors (47-21) have made their underwhelming loss last week to Phoenix an afterthought. Then, the Warriors fretted about their effort just over a month before the NBA postseason begin. Now, the Warriors believe the pressure packed road environment against possible playoff opponents bring out their best.
“We got no excuse not to have the excitement and have energy,” Curry said beforehand. “That’s something we talk about a lot. When we’re not playing well, that’s the first thing you can kind of point to. But when you get on the road against teams you could face in the playoffs and the atmosphere is what they are, we have to enjoy it.”
The Warriors enjoyed that environment even without Durant, who has averaged 27.4 points while shooting 51.3 percent from the field along with 6.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists this season.
The Warriors’ training staff have not considered Durant’s injury serious enough to take an MRI. Durant completed a postpractice workout on Tuesday in Houston as well as a practice on Friday in Houston. Though Durant did not participate in morning shootaround on Saturday with the team, he completed some work individually.
But Dr. Rick Celebrini, the Warriors’ director of sports medicine and performance, often handles the team’s players with caution. Does Celebrnini need Durant to show anything before he can play again?
“No,” Kerr said. “Just another couple of days to be safe makes the most sense.”