NEW YORK — Golden State Warriors superstars Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant are playing better together than at any other point in their three-year tenure, a fact that has become clear through the first two weeks of the NBA season.
“The continuity of being together now for a while, winning back-to-back titles together, I think there’s probably a better comfort zone, comfort area between the two of them than there’s ever been,” Warriors head Steve Kerr said after the duo polished off another offensive masterpiece on Sunday night by combining for 69 points in a 120-114 win over the Brooklyn Nets.
During the past three games, all Warriors wins, Curry and Durant are shooting a combined 77-for-132 from the field. As offensive numbers soar throughout the league, Curry and Durant are setting a bar for the rest of the league to follow.
“I think we’re just making shots,” Durant said. “I think we’re playing faster, the game is a little faster, so we’re getting out in transition a lot. Just making shots — it’s a long season, I’m sure we’re going to have games where we’re up and down with our shooting. I hope not, but I’m sure there’s going to be some games throughout the year, other guys are going to have to come and knock down some shots for us. I think we’re both just coming into the game trying to focus on how hard we can play on both ends, and our offense is starting to come around.”
Both All-Stars have been open about the work each put into their respective games over the summer, just a few months removed from winning their second straight NBA championship.
“We’re confident,” Curry said. “We understand the game calls for certain efforts in terms of being a little bit more aggressive to shoot and to score based on different lineups we have out there and things like that. We put a lot of work in and have a lot of confidence when we’re out there on the floor. Try to create the best shots you can, force the issue a little bit if you need to.”
What makes the pair’s start even more impressive is that the Warriors are 6-1 to start the season a year after starting the 2017-18 campaign with a lackluster 4-3 mark. Curry and Durant have carried the offensive load for a talent-laden group that is hungry to get off to a fast start.
“Because we went through what we went through last year,” Curry explained. “And it’s kind of fresh in your memory in terms of how terrible a feeling it was night in, night out. Nothing clicking, not having any energy or juice. Just making things harder than they should be, so we’ve talked about it, we’ve been open about it as a team, kind of set mini-goals to start off the season better. Obviously, we’re not going to blow people out every night; it’s going be to be tough. This is the NBA, there’s talent everywhere, but I think looking at the eye test and how we feel walking up the court, we’re playing with a lot more focus and more disciple better than we did last year starting off the year. That’s a good kind of vibe to have as you go through the 82 [regular-season games].”
As for whether Curry believes a team can have two scorers average 30 points a game each throughout the season, the confident sharpshooter was quick with an answer. Curry enters Monday’s game against the Chicago Bulls averaging 33.9 points a game, while Durant is averaging 30.3.
“Why not?” Curry said. “We’ll see.”
Source : ESPN
