OAKLAND – When the game was at stake and his teammates were shooting blanks, Kevin Durant dug deep into his box and pulled out the tools necessary to dismantle the stubborn-tough Sacramento Kings.
If he hadn’t, who would have?
With the Warriors and Kings never separated by more than six points over the final 23 minutes Saturday night, the game would be decided by which team performed best in the fourth quarter.
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The Warriors did, because Durant did, scoring 17 of his season-high 44 points to finish a 117-116 victory.
While his teammates were 2-of-11 from the field, scoring five points over the final 12 minutes, Durant was 6-of-12. If he wasn’t draining shots, the Warriors would have trudged out of Oracle Arena as losers.
“Just go score,” Durant said, describing his late-game mentality. “Tight game, they were knocking down shots. We were struggling to score. So I just tried to shoot the ball as much as I could. And they went in.”
He was, once again, particularly in the absence of Stephen Curry, the ultimate bailout option.
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“Yeah, even when Steph is here,” Klay Thompson said. “You’ve seen in The Finals for a couple years now what KD is capable of. Anytime the offense gets stagnant and they’re switching a lot, you can just throw him the ball and he’s going to get a clean look every time.
“He’s the best scorer in the world.”
This came one night after Durant scored a game-high 32 points in beating Portland.
Such performances on back-to-back nights indicate Durant has made the offensive adjustment needed without Curry’s scoring and Draymond Green’s playmaking – as well as the emotional adjustment imperative after his heated quarrel with Green.
Durant over the previous six games without Curry: 168 points (28.0 ppg) on 53-of-126 shooting (42.1 percent), including 5-of-27 from beyond the arc and 62-of-66 from the line.
Durant in the last two games: 76 points (38.0 average) on 26-of-47 shooting (55.3 percent), including 4-of-13 from deep and 20-of-22 from the line.
He’s a different player, bringing higher level of energy. In addition to his scoring, Durant also grabbed 13 rebounds (a team-high), while recording seven assists and two blocked shots.
“Phenomenal,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He’s taking on such a big responsibility, along with Klay. You see the shot distribution; those guys are really carrying the load offensively. Kevin was just amazing. There were so many possessions that were dead in the water and he bailed us out late.”
Durant said he has not gotten comfortable playing without Curry and Green, but acknowledges this has been a period of development.
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We’re just trying to figure out a way to be effective, each one of us, when we are on the court,” he said. “Coach has been trying to do a good job of mixing and matching the lineups and putting guys in position to be successful individually.
“We’re missing 30 points from Steph on any given night. You don’t know where it’s going to come from, so you’ve got to play more of a cerebral game without scorers.”
There was perhaps too much cerebrum in the first few games without Curry and Green. Now there is a blend of thought and action. It’s a more decisive Warriors team, certainly with Durant when it counted.
