Prior to that injury, the Durant/Curry dynamic had been workable, but not exactly living up to preseason expectations. Many thought they'd operate within a devastating pick-and-roll, and that has yet to happen. Still, the Warriors are successful with both on the floor, and Monday night gave us glimpses of how the two work together. The beginning seemed
Pierre-Luc Dubois Authentic Jersey to presage some deference, as Curry passed up an open 3-pointer to assist Durant on a midrange shot. Durant then returned the favor as he passed out of the post for a Curry 3 at the top of circle. The Golden State Warriors lost to the Utah Jazz 105-99 in a game that meant little to the hosts beyond building habits. The Warriors had nothing tangible to gain but perhaps benefited from testing their mettle against Rudy Gobert at the rim (he was as brilliant as his 17 points, 18 boards and two blocked shots suggests). It was also the game that saw Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry get their first minutes together since Feb. 28, when Durant suffered an MCL sprain against the Washington Wizards. On Curry and Durant playing a lot simultaneously, Kerr said, "That was part of the idea tonight was to get them as many minutes as possible, so we left KD out there longer than we did last game in terms of his runs. So both first and third quarter I think they got about 10 minutes action together, each." As the Warriors played lax defense, the fun stuff came later when Curry tossed an outlet to Durant that led to a Green dunk. The Warriors might have dominated this game had they finished more plays like that. Instead, they botched a few easy transition opportunities. In the beginning, Curry didn't need easy baskets to do his damage, as he was content to shell the Jazz from deep (28 points, six 3-pointers in 30 minutes of play). As the season winds to a close, Curry looks, subjectively, like last year's MVP candidate -- finally. That's quite a positive sign for a Warriors team, obviously. As for the Durant watch, he certainly looks to be in good condition on a couple of highlight plays. On one, Durant crossed over Dante Exum in transition and threw down a furious slam. On another, Durant zipped past Joe Ingles and dunked right in the face of Joel Bolomboy. Of the dunks, Durant said, "It felt really good man, I can't lie. I'm a little hesitant early on these first few games, just exploding off and just making moves I normally make
http://www.officialpistonstore.com/Joe_Dumars_Jersey. Seems like most second halves these last two games I've just been saying, 'Forget it, just go out there and try some stuff.'" Durant looks athletic as ever, and the midrange jumper is accurate, but the 3-point shot isn't quite there yet. Durant scored 16 points on 12 shots, but went 0-of-5 from deep. Despite more space than he had in Oklahoma City's offense, Durant is shooting 28.4 percent from 3-point territory over his past 19 games dating back to Jan. 20. That's a luxury issue for a team that didn't have to try on Monday because their 1-seed status is assured. The Warriors have a few kinks to work out, but theirs are smaller and less gnarled than what everyone else is going through. OAKLAND, Calif. -- Outside of giving Kevin Durant some additional time on the court, Golden State coach Steve Kerr thought it was more important to rest his starters in the fourth quarter than try to extend the longest winning streak in the NBA this season. With the playoffs starting this weekend, it was an easy decision. Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 18 rebounds, Joe Johnson added a key 3-pointer with 80 seconds remaining and the Utah Jazz beat Golden State 105-99 on Monday night to snap the Warriors' 14-game winning streak. Stephen Curry had 28 points in three quarters for the Warriors (66-15), while Durant added 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in his second game back following a knee injury. With nothing at stake for the Warriors, the Jazz rode Gobert's seven-point fourth quarter to their first win at Oracle Arena since April 7, 2013. "A win is a win," Gobert said. "They didn't put their starters back in at the end but we were still in the game. We know the playoffs are going to be a different atmosphere but it's still a great win." Kerr, his team already assured of the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, sat most of his starters for the entire fourth quarter and the Jazz (50-31) took advantage to end a seven-game losing streak at Oracle Arena. "We didn't have any injuries so that's all
http://www.officialpistonstore.com/Caron_Butler_Jersey good," Kerr said. "They got 12 more field goal attempts than us. That was the difference in the game." Gobert's follow shot gave Utah an 83-82 lead with 7 minutes left. He later scored on an alley-oop dunk off a pass from Boris Diaw, then blocked a shot by Patrick McCaw to preserve the Jazz's lead. Utah won despite being without Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Rodney Hood and Raul Neto, all of whom have been nursing nagging injuries. That opened the door for Utah and the Jazz closed strong down the stretch. George Hill had 20 points and Johnson finished with 19, including five 3s. Hayward (bruised left quad), Favors (left knee soreness), Hood (right knee soreness) and Neto (sprained left ankle) sat out after playing in Portland two nights earlier. ... Dante Exum went down hard in the first quarter after getting blocked from behind by JaVale McGee while attempting a dunk. Draymond Green picked up his 14th technical foul of the season in the third quarter. ... Matt Barnes (sprained right ankle) did not play and will sit out the season finale as well. "Hopefully we'll get him back during the first round," Kerr said. Durant, who missed more than a month while injured, showed no lingering effects. He brought the Oracle Arena crowd to its feet with a soaring one-handed dunk late in the third quarter and drove baseline for another one-handed stuff. "Felt really good, I can't lie," Durant said. "Overall I felt good on the defensive end . got a few dunks. I guess that's the last piece of the puzzle." The Warriors flew in a new ballboy for the game -- 7-year-old Brody Stephens from Indiana. Stephens, who suffers from leukemia, attended the team's shootaround earlier in the day as well as Kerr's pregame press conference as guests. Stephens first met the Warriors when he was visited in the hospital by Curry last November when Golden State was in Indiana to play the Pacers. Golden State was also short-handed, as Kerr rested Klay Thompson. He was joined on the bench in the fourth by most of the rest of the starters. Durant and Zaza Pachulia were the lone exceptions
http://www.officialbluejacketsproshop.com/Anton_Forsberg_Jersey and Durant joined his teammates on the bench early in the final quarter. The Warriors' hopes of tying the 1984-85 Lakers for most games with 30 or more assists ended when Golden State was held to 25. Kerr's club still has 50, two shy of the NBA record.
