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Fans of the Golden State Warriors know better than most that Kevin Durant is really, really, extremely good at this whole basketball thing. Like, really good.
But Durant was not above reminding them of that on Saturday, and the Brooklyn Nets were not above feeding the Warriors a reckless doctor’s-sized dose of their own medicine, showing Golden State just how deadly a three-headed offensive monster can be.
Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden were tremendous, combining for 62 points and 26 assists. And as the Warriors sold out to try and shut them down, their gravity was in full effect: everyone else on Brooklyn’s roster scored 72 points on 26-for-46 shooting.
And while the Warriors kept pace for about ten minutes or so, the wheels quickly fell of Dubwagon, and the route was on. The final damage? 134-117 to Brooklyn, who swept the two-game season series by 43 points.
The Warriors put up a fight. It wasn’t all as ugly as the score would indicate, but Golden State made just 26.5% of their threes, and it doomed them. They were scrappy and never rolled over. They moved the ball.
They just fell short in the talent department, and looked like a squad that could greatly benefit from the addition of ... I dunno ... just spitballing here but ... someone like ... say ... Kevin Durant? Or maybe Klay Thompson? That would work too.
Either way, the Dubs simply lacked offensive firepower. Draymond Green once again dished the rock (8 assists), but his passivity scoring the ball sunk the Warriors on numerous occasions. Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre Jr. both scored 17 points, but each needed 15 shots and 4 free throws to get there. The bench didn’t do much.
It was the Steph Curry show, and only the Steph Curry show, and while Curry was at times magnificent, it wasn’t his most dynamic performance of the season: 27 points and 5 assists on 10-for-17 shooting, with 2-for-9 from deep. Good — great even — but not as great as he sometimes is. Few performances are good enough to beat a super team when no teammates could step up.
So it goes.
The Warriors, as we knew, are not on the Nets level.
But Brooklyn didn’t have to be so dang rude about it.