The Golden State Warriors and Brooklyn Nets played against each other in a matchup of two of the best teams in the NBA in the early going of the season. Round 1 of this potential NBA Finals series went to the Warriors, who came into Barclays Center and ended up blowing the Nets out of the water.
Golden State won the game 117-99, showcasing just how strong of a team they are on both ends of the floor. They used dominant second and third quarters to pull away as the Brooklyn Nets had no answers on either end of the floor.
Stephen Curry was masterful once again, scoring 37 points. He went 12-of-19 from the field, 9-of-14 from 3-point range, and a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line. He did that in only 29 minutes of play, pulling down seven rebounds and handing out five assists in the process.
When you consider that his teammates shot a combined 4-for-16 from 3-point range, this game could have been even more lopsided. Three other Warriors scored in double-figures in the game, including Draymond Green, who deserves a ton of praise.
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Green scored 11 points with eight assists and six rebounds, but it was his defense that helped the Warriors pull away. The potential Defensive Player of the Year took Kevin Durant out of the game, receiving glowing feedback from head coach Steve Kerr.
“You can’t do a better job defensively than what Draymond did tonight,” Kerr said. “Kevin is, as I’ve said before, he’s the most talented basketball player ever in terms of that size and skill and ability to get any shot he wants. He showed it in the first quarter. He got anywhere he wanted. And then I just thought we stayed with it. That was the main thing. In that third-quarter performance, Draymond was with him everywhere he went. You can’t possibly do a better job than what Draymond did.”
Just how good of a job did Green do? Durant shot 6-of-19 from the field, scoring 19 points. The 31.6 percent shooting was the worst shooting performance of the season for Durant, whose previous low was 44.4 against the Detroit Pistons on November 5th.
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This is also the first time all season Kevin Durant failed to reach the 20-point plateau, as his previous low this season was 22 against the Indiana Pacers on October 29th when he attempted only 10 shots in the game.
With an ace defender, the caliber of Draymond Green, and an offensive maestro such as Stephen Curry, the Golden State Warriors are dominant on both ends of the court. They are going to be a tough team to slow down throughout the season as they are locked in right now.
