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A quick turnaround after an emotional comeback win last night as the Golden State Warriors face off against the Brooklyn Nyets. We don’t call it rest, because the NBA sent out a memo about resting star players on the road, so Kevin Durant is out with a sprained ankle.
Kerr said Durant woke up today feeling sore. “It makes sense to give him the night off.”
— Connor Letourneau (@Con_Chron) November 19, 2017
He looked fine last night and there was no mention of it in any of the post game interviews, so I am guessing that Durant is well on his way to a speedy recovery.
Is there a big game coming up for him, or something?
Kevin Durant: Left ankle sprain, out tonight vs Nets, per Warriors.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 19, 2017
...now to monitor his status in lead-up to Wednesday's game in OKC.
In his place, Omri Casspi will get the start. Given the recent schedule, I’d expect coach Steve Kerr to go fairly deep into his rotation tonight in order to spread the minutes around.
But still, I can’t help and wonder if maybe Kerr was taking the opportunity to capitalize on Casspi’s quip after his last big game: telling Durant that he was holding him back:
— sam esfandiari (@samesfandiari) November 19, 2017
Curry is poised for another big game this afternoon - due to the injuries afflicting the Nets right now, Curry will be facing up against relatively unknown Spencer Dinwiddie. And then whatever else the Nets can dig up from the bottom end of their guard rotation.
After looking good early in the season, Brooklyn has run into some injury problems in their backcourt. Much like yours truly, Nets guard D’Angelo Russell underwent knee surgery and is out for a while. It may not matter against the Warriors, but worth noting that over the past five games, the Nets are in the top eight in the league in defensive efficiency. With the Warriors on their second game of a back to back, this one has all the makings of a trap game.
But hey, it was a fun game in Philly last night, wasn’t it? We were treated to a good ol’ Steph Curry explosive 3rd quarter, yet another amazing comeback - and a reminder that you really should be watching every game this team plays.
Since the start of 2016-17 season, Warriors have won 52% of games (11 of 21) in which they fall they fall behind by 15 pts or more, per @ESPNStatsInfo. The rest of the NBA wins about 10% of such games.
— Chris Herring (@Herring_NBA) November 19, 2017
Light years, baby!!!