OAKLAND — Warriors practice on Friday ran about an hour longer than anticipated, but when scribes and television personalities walked through the glossy white doors at the Oakland Marriott, we were treated to a clash of two basketball titans.
A fully healed Kevin Durant was practicing shooting drills against team consultant Steve Nash. The former Phoenix Suns MVP, who overcame a knee injury in his career, was actually playing defense on Durant. Nash challenged him and offered instructions after each shot Durant took. KD then met with reporters, appearing very relaxed.
As much as the Warriors are getting Kevin Durant back, KD is getting the Warriors back. Two splash brothers, a defensive player of the year frontrunner, a robust bench and a team that leads the league in field goal percentage, assists, steals, blocks — and wins. That’s not a supporting cast. That’s an Army.
“If anyone of us went down we would’ve struggled,” Durant told reporters Friday, about the 2-5 bumpy period Golden State endured when he first went down. “All we do is rely on each other.”
It’s the same team Durant started the season 50-9 with, the same team where he was shooting the highest field goal percentage of his career (53.7 percent). Only now, nearly everyone elevated their level of play the last three weeks. Steph Curry’s assists sky-rocketed, Klay Thompson’s scoring became more consistent, Andre Iguodala is arguably playing his best basketball since arriving in 2013.
None of the Warriors have said anything about “an adjustment period.” Everybody is fully expecting Durant to walk in and start delivering big plays.
And if he does, the Warriors can’t run the table until the Western Conference Finals, can they? Winners of 13 straight, the team will close with the Pelicans, Jazz and Lakers to make it 16 in a row in the regular season. Then very likely the Trail Blazers in round one, followed by the Jazz or Clippers in the second round. It’s really not out of the question.
The question none of us have the answer to: Can this team continue playing this well with Durant? It’s seems like a silly question to ask, but it’s sports. Rarely do things go perfectly. Here are five keys that we should keep an eye on.
1. What exactly are the rotations?
Pat McCaw/Matt Barnes obviously slip back on the bench. JaVale McGee and Andre Iguodala will likely be the first subs on the court. After that, Kerr’s job of juggling becomes a little more tedious. Curry has been torching teams in the third quarter during this 13-game win streak, so he needs his regular rotation of playing that entire quarter. David West definitely needs minutes to stay fresh, and his role early in the fourth quarter has become so stabilizing for this team — now minutes that may shift to Durant. It’ll be a balancing act and there could be a lineup wrinkle or two we haven’t seen from Kerr.
2. Curry and Iguodala must maintain this aggressiveness while balancing Durant’s workload
One of Kerr’s top priorities is making sure Curry stays arrogant with the basketball. The offense should remain predicated on ball movement, but scheming up isolation looks for Curry should be implemented. Will Durant be eased back into the offense, or will he shoot 17 times Saturday night against the Pelicans? Let’s hope that’s up to the flow of the game, but the Warriors certainly want to give him close to a normal a workload. Iguodala is the ultimate chameleon and he’ll figure out what the Warriors need most from him on a given night, but his current hot streak clearly has a correlation on the winning streak.
3. Draymond Green will benefit defensively
The player who started the 13-game winning streak with timely stops against the 76ers now has the luxury of a 7-foot forward patrolling the paint. Green won’t have to guard the center position out of necessity anymore with Durant back on the floor, allowing him to freelance more and switch more willingly depending on matchups. It’s honestly hard to imagine Green playing at a higher-level on defense, but Durant gives his buddy more freedom to roam on the court — meaning he’s altering shots and coming up with stops more often.
4. There are no minutes restrictions for Durant
Kerr isn’t going to give him 40 minutes of run time tomorrow, but the original plan of using him in short bursts appears to be finished. Except Durant to start, play closer to 30 minutes than 20. We all know being in basketball shape is a much different workout routine than rehabbing. It’s expected for KD to be a little winded these last three regular season games more so than it is for him to be knocking rust off his shot.
5. Will Matt Barnes still have a role?
He’s certainly earned it and it’s honestly a little shocking he was available as a free agent. Barnes has been able to defend and knock down open 3s with regularity. It’s possible McCaw’s minutes are trimmed quite a bit and Ian Clark could also be impacted by Kerr’s inclusion of Barnes.
