OAKLAND–Kevin Durant was dishing it out on Tuesday night.
The Warriors’ 7-foot forward set a new career-high with 14 assists in Golden State’s 123-112 win over the New York Knicks, but was ejected late after earning his second technical foul for arguing a call with referee James Williams.
While Durant’s passing was a highlight for the Warriors during Tuesday’s game, the criticism he passed out to Williams in the postgame press conference was harsh and will likely earn the Warriors’ star a fine. Though Durant wasn’t ejected until the Warriors held an 18-point lead late in the fourth quarter, his troubles with Williams developed over the course of the game after a first half incident.
“Well in the first half I was dribbling up on the right side, I made a left to right cross and he said I carried,” Durant said. “He kind of let that go, I asked him, ‘Where do you get the carry from?’ He said I froze the defender. I said that’s what a crossover is for and that’s why I do it to freeze my defender. He tried to make a bunch of excuses and I told him he was wrong and he went to halftime probably with an attitude.”
Durant earned his team-high fourth ejection of the season in the fourth quarter and after the game, he indicated that Williams’ refusal to let their first half conversation played a role in his early dismissal.
“So second half, his whole thing was like, he’s trying to get me,” Durant said. “So look at my first tech. I got the rebound and I dribbled the ball hard and he teched me up. He was searching for me. He was looking to try to get me back because he was still in his feelings from the first half. That’s what’s been going on around the league the whole year. A bunch of that, you know what I’m saying? I’ve got to keep my head a little bit but I was upset. I’m a human being, too. I get upset. But I’ll move on, I said what I had to say.”
Immediately before Durant earned his second technical, Warriors’ forward Draymond Green attempted to restrain his teammate as Green understood the consequences that might come from another heated conversation. After the game, Durant joked that Green wasn’t the person he wanted to restrain him considering Green’s troubles with NBA officials, but said his teammate was just looking out for him.
“Yeah, the irony,” Durant said. “I was not trying to hear that. But he was right in doing so and I didn’t want to get teched up going out, but I did want him to hear what I had to say. So you know what that brings. I’m sure when we see James again, he’ll still be in his feelings.”