For the second consecutive week, a member of the Warriors experienced the end of an impressive personal streak. First Stephen Curry, then Kevin Durant.
By coming out in the fourth quarter of a blowout win at Denver with 18 points, Durant’s streak of consecutive games with at least 20 points was snapped at 72, tying him with Michael Jordan for fourth place on the all-time list.
“We won the basketball game,” said Durant, who left with 5:51 remaining and the Warriors up 112-86. “That’s the most important thing.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr pulled the star forward two seconds after Durant was whistled for a charge.
“I knew about the streak, and I told him that when he came off the floor,” Kerr said. “But I’m not going to mess with the basketball gods. If you want to leave a guy out there to get some kind of record, you’re asking for an injury. The game called for him to come out, he came out. He had no problem with it.”
Durant’s streak ended six days after Curry’s streak of consecutive games with at least one 3-pointer was snapped at 157 in a 0-of-10 performance against the Lakers.
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“There’s going to be a lot of that stuff this year,” Kerr said. “There’s going to be people talking about stats and records and who’s scoring and who’s not. The only way this is going to work is if guys throw that out the window. That’s exactly what KD did.”
CLIPPERS:
After several years of teasing their fans in the postseason, the Clippers may have found a formula that will endure. It’s called defense.
With center DeAndre Jordan, forward Luc Mbah A Moute and guard Chris Paul leading the way, coach Doc Rivers’ squad has been the stingiest in the league,
The Clippers, with a 111-80 win over Portland, are the first team this season to hold Damian Lillard and the explosive Trail Blazers under 100 points.
“It kind of breaks the spirit on the other end on their defense because they can’t score and they’re thinking about scoring,” Rivers told reporters afterward. “It’s good. We’ve just got to keep doing it and keep getting better.”
LAKERS:
If there were an award for the most surprising team in the NBA, early-season division, the Lakers would be the favorites to win it.
Projected to win 25 to 30 games, first-year coach Luke Walton has coaxed his group to five wins in its first nine games, including victories over the Warriors, Hawks and Rockets.
A win over the Kings last week snapped a seven-game losing streak to Sacramento. More significant, it was the first time in nearly two years that the Lakers won consecutive road games – and the first time three years they won four of five.
One of the biggest reasons behind the rise has been an effective bench, led by veteran guard Lou Williams, who leads and team in scoring.
