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NEW ORLEANS – The net made a swishing sound at a rapid pace. That only meant one thing. Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant resumed their post-practice shooting workout.
The routine stopped temporarily when Curry spent over four weeks rehabbing his Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee. But with Curry receiving clearance to begin practicing last week, Curry and Durant resumed what has become the most entertaining part of the team's practice. Once it opens to reporters, the two Warriors' stars fire off 3-pointers and jumpers with stunning accuracy.
"When you get a chance to work with one of the best to ever play, it sharpens you as well," Durant said. "Steel sharpens steel. He makes me better and I make him better."
If only that concept played out the same way during Curry's return.
In the Warriors' Game 2 victory over New Orleans on Tuesday, Curry did not show any rust with 28 points while shooting 8-of-15 from the field and 5-of-10 from 3-point range in 27 minutes off the bench. Durant played with some rust. Though he had a team-leading 29 points on 11-of-23 shooting, Durant went a combined 6-of-17 from the field in the first three quarters.
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"I was rushing a little bit too much, and then I missed a few calls trying to find it so quickly," Durant said. I just tried to slow down in the fourth [quarter]. My teammates did a good job of slowing the pace for me, finding me in the post and moving off the ball."
And as a result, Durant had 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the fourth quarter. He made a turnaround jumper, forced a turnover and set up Curry for a 3-pointer that gave the Warriors a 119-106 cushion with 1:47 left. What changed? Warriors coach Steve Kerr simply chalked it up to "just his talent and his aggressiveness."
"That's not anything new," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. "You've just got to continue to try to make him make tough shots, and that's exactly what he did."
The Warriors (2-0) enter Game 3 of their second-round series in New Orleans on Friday expecting that Durant will benefit better with Curry's presence.
Durant played just fine without Curry in the postseason, averaging 27.9 points on 47.9 percent shooting in six playoff games. With Durant going only 28.3 percent from 3-point range, however, perhaps he will have easier looks with Curry's gravity attracting defenses.
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"On offense, it definitely picks the pace up for us. Defensively, I think we stick to the same principles. When Steph is not out there, it's not a lot of off-ball movement to space," Durant said. "It's obviously different not having him out there. But when he's out there, he's creating pace with his movement off the ball and in the pick-and-roll."
When Curry's out there, Durant also has a partner for his shooting routine. Eventually, though, those joint shooting sessions could translate into Durant having a more efficient performance.
"It's more sharpening each other man. It's never a competition," Durant said. "It's just about going out there and trying to get better. That's the most important thing."
Big Easy
With the Pelicans failing to slow the Warriors down in Oakland, only a few solutions remain. Hope the Warriors eat too much fried food here. Hope they consume too many Hurricanes. Hope they suddenly experience regular-season complacency.
"We have to understand our defense needs to travel and be our calling card as we go to New Orleans," Curry said. "There's so many runs they can put up. When the crowd gets into it, it's a different environment."
Because of that environment, Warriors forward Draymond Green argued that "Game 3 is usually one of the most important games in every series."
"I expect a rowdy crowd. I expect all of New Orleans to be there," Warriors guard Klay Thompson said. "Game 3 is pivotal, so I expect them to come with their energy."
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