He has been so smooth and efficient, with such remarkable consistency, that it feels automatic that Kevin Durant will deliver 20 or more points, maybe eight or 10 rebounds and a couple blocks every game for the Warriors.
He went beyond that Wednesday night.
Durant scored a game-high 33 points in a 113-103 win over the Hornets in Charlotte, yet that wasn't his most impressive number. That would be the 16 he scored in the fourth quarter, anchoring a comeback in a game during which the Warriors trailed by as much as 10.
With his highest-scoring quarter as a Warrior, Durant took over a game that easily could have slipped away if he had not stepped forward.
The Warriors were down five, 80-75, after three quarters. Though the second unit opened the fourth playing tight defense and shifting the momentum, the Warriors were behind 85-83 when Durant reentered with nine minutes to play.
"I loved the defense to start the fourth quarter," coach Steve Kerr said. "I thought that group changed the game -- (James Michael) McAdoo and Andre (Iguodala), Shaun Livingston, Klay (Thompson) and Draymond (Green). The defense was fantastic and we stepped up to the physical challenge that they were presenting because they really took it to us in the third quarter. So I thought that changed the momentum back in our favor.
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"And then I think KD going to the line the way he did, not settling for jumpers, but attacking. Any time the game is slipping away from you it's important to get the free throw line. It stops the momentum of the other team, it allows you to set up your defense, you get some easy points and I thought KD's aggression combined with the defensive effort of that group to start the fourth, those were the keys."
Durant took 12 shots in the fourth and made 11: 5-of-6 from the field, 6-of-6 from the line. He was plus-12 in his nine-minute stint.
Durant made a pair of free throws to put the Warriors in front for good, 95-94, with 5:25 remaining, and then scored six more points over the next three minutes as the Warriors finished off the Hornets.
Yet there he was after the game, acknowledging Stephen Curry, who scored 28 points and buried Charlotte with a couple 3-pointers in the final 3:30.
"We're catch-and-shoot guys that can go to the line and make plays so all of us don't need the ball to be effective," Durant said. "Draymond is a great facilitator, Andre and Shaun too. So they kind of set us up and we do our job by shooting and getting to the rim."
