SUMMARY
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
LOS ANGELES, USA – Kevin Durant suffered a personal tragedy but kept his focus on the game to help the Golden State Warriors hack out a 112-89 rout of the Indiana Pacers in the NBA on Thursday, March 21 (Friday, March 22, Manila time).
Durant’s childhood friend Cliff Dixon, the former Western Kentucky University player whom he calls as his “adopted brother,” was shot to death earlier in the day.
But Durant still showed up for the game and delivered 15 points, 6 assists and 3 blocks for the Warriors.
Warriors guard Quinn Cook was also a friend of Dixon.
DeMarcus Cousins returned from a two-game injury absence and tallied 19 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks to lead the Warriors, who outscored the Pacers, 35-19, in the 3rd quarter.
The two-time defending champion Warriors had all 5 starters finishing in double figures.
“We got the shots we wanted. The ball was just popping,” said Golden State forward Andre Iguodala. “We haven’t played as well at home this year so we want to finish it right.”
#DubNation @boogiecousins (19 PTS, 11 REB) & @KDTrey5 (15 PTS, 6 AST, 3 BLK) push the @warriors past Indiana at Oracle Arena! pic.twitter.com/pwQMSho2LF
— NBA (@NBA) March 22, 2019
Steph Curry also knocked in 12 of his 15 points in the Warriors’ blistering third-quarter outburst.
Klay Thompson got off to a slow start, missing his first 7 shots before finishing with 18 points on top of 8 boards and 4 assists.
The playoff-bound Warriors kept hold of the top spot in the Western Conference at 49-22, just half a game ahead of the Denver Nuggets’ 48-22 record.
Golden State led 53-43 at halftime thanks to an 18-10 surge in the 2nd quarter. They then busted the game open in the 3rd quarter taking a 70-48 advantage 6 minutes in and breezed from there.
“Tonight I thought our spirit and our energy were fantastic,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
Iguodala finished with 11 points and Draymond Green also scored 10 for the Warriors.
The Pacers dropped to 44-29 and saw their lead over the Boston Celtics (43-29) trimmed to a half-game in their fight for the 4th seed in the East.
Tyreke Evans scored 20 off the bench and Thaddeus Young added 18 points to lead the Pacers, who went 0-4 on a Western swing to Denver, Portland and Los Angeles.
Indiana coach Nate McMillan missed the game due to family reasons. – With a report from Agence France-Presse
Add a comment
How does this make you feel?
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.