Kevin Durant and The Squad Breeze By The Thunder
Although the score would tell you that this was a hard fought grind it out style win for the Warriors, in actuality is was not. It was one of those games where you just knew the Warriors would close it out with a win no matter how close the score got and sure enough they finished the game victorious to a final score of 111-107.
Amid the boos scattered with a sprinkle of cheers for Kevin Durant (34 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists) at his old stomping grounds he was able to lead the Curry-less Warriors to a smooth and uneventful victory along with some help from Klay Thompson (20 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists), Quinn Cook (12 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists) and the rest of the bench who were able to provide a well balanced scoring attack. In fact David West, Javale McGee and Damian Jones all finished the game with 8 points on 4-for-4 shooting from the field each.
“KD crossed Melo back to the Knicks. pic.twitter.com/E3hN1Z0qrx”
The Oklahoma City Thunder who are still battling for playoff seeding were a one-man-show surprisingly and unsurprisingly at the same time. Russell Westbrook flourished as he had a game high 44 points to go along with 16 rebounds and 6 assists. The other 2 members of the Big 3, err…more like “Big 1 and Medium 2, were not as impressive as Paul George and Carmelo Anthony shot a combined 9-for-35 from the field. It seemed anytime the Thunder got something going they would eventually clank a few shots which would immediately lead to Warrior points on the other end.
Before the game the Warriors bench was looking mighty thin as Golden State was without a whole slew of players including Steph Curry (knee), Andre Iguodala (knee), Shaun Livingston (personal reasons), Omri Casspi (ankle) and Patrick McCaw (spine). However Quinn Cook and Damian Jones, 2 players who spent significant time playing in the G-League this year, really provided a big boost both in the starting line-up in Cook’s case and off the bench from Jones. Cook has just about all but solidified a spot on the roster for himself going into the playoffs which leaves the Warriors with a tough choice on which player they will need to cut in order to make room for him on the playoff roster, although lately it has been increasingly looking as if the player to get the axe would be the currently injured Omri Casspi simply because who else do you cut?
Damian Jones was really the low-key big story tonight for Warriors fans as he showed flashes of excellence and insane athletic prowess which reminded many of why the Warriors used a first round pick on the 7-footer from Vanderbilt University a few years back. He was playing crunch time minutes and was really impactful in those minutes. With about a minute left to play and a 4-point lead Draymond Green charged toward the rim and lobbed the ball to a slashing Jones who finished with an emphatic two-handed slam to push the lead to 6.
“DG TO DJ! pic.twitter.com/DfMo59TJAA”
With a revolving door front court for the Warriors I wouldn’t be surprised if Damian Jones found himself steady in Steve Kerr’s rotation next year. The opportunity will definitely be there, it seems like it will be up to Jones to prove that he deserves to stay however.
Next up for the Warriors is another road contest against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday. It’s unclear as of now if Iguodala, McCaw, or Livingston will be back in the line-up. The Warriors will be looking to snag their 4th straight win.