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The Washington Wizards weren’t worthy of Kevin Durant’s garbage time minutes.
“Sub me out. I don’t want to play no more, man” he bellowed to Coach Steve Kerr in the waining moments of the Wednesday night’s matchup, against a very vociferous for no reason Wizards team.
While Stephen Curry’s 51 point explosion will dominate all of the headlines in the Warriors’ 144-122 victory , Durant’s, Draymond Green’s and Klay Thompson’s contributions and the dubs’ porous defense shouldn’t go unnoticed.
A Quiet 30 Points
Durant is so prolific offensively that you don't realize he scored 30 points in a game unless the commentators said so or you see it on the graphics. In the shadow of Curry’s game, Durant dropped a quiet and efficient 30 points on 13/18 shooting and also recorded eight rebounds and seven assists. Durant and Curry’s combined 81 points is arguably the best performances ever by the duo.
Note: Check out a forthcoming article here on GSoM examining the scoring style of Durant and Curry.
Green and Thompson shake their slump
Going into Wednesday’s game, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson were in a mini slump. Green didn’t look quite like himself in the Utah and Denver games as he uncharacteristically committed more turnovers than assists. After shooting lights out during the pre-season, Thompson has struggled to find his shot from deep despite defending well.
Green was his usual impactful self against Washington, recording 12 assists, while Thompson scored 19 points on 8/17 from the field. Granted, Thompson is still struggling from three, but I wouldn't bet against Thompson breaking through against the Knicks on Friday.
An offensive defense
With Curry and Durant combining for 81 points, the game shouldn’t have been close at all. It was the Warriors’ lack of defense during parts of the game that gave the Wizards confidence that they could make it a competitive game. In the second quarter, The Warriors were up as many as 10 before pulling away for good late in the third quarter. The season is still young. However, the Warriors can't keep surrendering points at the rate they are and expect to win.