Warriors’ Durant smacks Blazers with what could have been
In an alternate universe, Kevin Durant is the face of the Portland Trail Blazers.
A capacity Oracle Arena crowd at the Warriors’ 135-90 rout of Portland on Saturday surely appreciated that the Blazers whiffed on that decision.
Durant had 34 points on 11-of-13 shooting, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals in 31 minutes Saturday.
In addition to Durant’s stunning efficiency, three Warriors players — Stephen Curry (19 points), Klay Thompson (16) and Ian Clark (23) — recorded double digits.
Blazers guard and Oakland native Damian Lillard, who entered Thursday with at least 30 points in four of his past five games against his hometown team, scored most of his team-high 20 points with the game already out of hand.
In July, when Durant signed with the Warriors, many questioned how an offense stacked with shooters could adjust to a four-time NBA scoring champion.
With 54 regular-season games left, Durant leads the Warriors in scoring, free throws made and attempted, total rebounds and total blocks and is third in assists, total steals and three-pointers made.
After nagging injuries limited his NBA career to only parts of three seasons, Oden is a 28-year-old student assistant at Ohio State.