Final Score: Kevin Durant, Warriors shut down Kings, 119-104

The Golden State Warriors fought the winter doldrums off long enough to dispatch a spunky Sacramento Kings squad, 119-104. The Warriors coolly surged back from an early double-digit deficit, seized a solid lead, but couldn’t put the Kings away until late in the final period. The game was marred by poor decision making from Golden State, as they finished with a ghastly 25 assists/25 turnovers.

Fortunately, the Warriors felt threatened enough to be bothered into stomping the Kings down the stretch. The Warriors’ brutal efficiency in “ball movement leading to wide open threes” was enough to send Nick Young in two straight minutes of happy gyrations...while still playing on the court. The champs would stroke a beautiful 44-of-80 (54%) from the field, 17-of-33 (51%) from three, and 14-of-16 (87%) from the line.

The team’s efficient offensive night got the job done, led by Kevin Durant shooting the ball from far away, directly in the retinas of helpless Sacramento defenders. Durant finished with 33 points, 12-of-17 from the field, 6-of-7 from downtown. Stephen Curry chipped in 23 points, and Klay Thompson drilled in 20 points on 12 shots.

In my opinion, the champs weren’t sure whether they wanted to blow the roof off of The Golden 1 Center in a vicious display of sickening power over a pathetic rival... or black-out into unconsciousness from boredom.

They alternated between those drastic speed changes for the majority of the contest, playing with their food. AND THIS WAS QUITE A SPICY MEAL FOLKS!

Steve Kerr changed things up early

Durant had an electric 15 points in the second quarter, going 6-for-7 from the field that period, 3-for-3 from the arc. He played the entire quarter, the pleasant result of an interesting strategy by head coach Kerr: staggering his two MVP’s minutes. Kerr made to sure to keep either Curry or Durant on the floor at all points during the half, playing Durant the whole quarter, easing the seven-foot assassin into a rhythm.

After expressing clear displeasure over his normally swaggering team’s listless Utah performance, Kerr also made sure to free Javale McGee from the cold confines of the deep bench. McGee, on cue, answered the call with what I assume the startled Sacramento players would probably refer to as TERRIFYINGLY BOUNCY ENERGY.

P-Mac bandwagon check

During the broacast, ESPN announcer and former Warriors choking hazard P.J. Carlesimo made a pointed remark about Patrick McCaw not playing all that well this season, and his voice carried a hint of foreboding concern over the second-year champion’s head-scratching hooping. This is the first time I’ve begun to remotely ponder whether or not I may have jumped the gun in pronouncing McCaw a future ten-time Olympian.

Kerr stuck with him in an attempt to contain the quickness of the King’s guards De’Aaron Fox and George Hill. This resulted in a mix of clever defensive highlights leading to three steals and...some uncomfortably bad offensive decisions leading to three comical turnovers. The young enigma finished with a +9 plus/minus ratio, with 0 points and 0 rebounds on 0-2 shooting in 28 ominously long minutes. Kerr’s really throwing McCaw into the waters to give him valuable regular season minutes.

A win is a win