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sports Diahuebs 18 November 2021

Curry scores 37, Durant season-low 19 as Warriors rout Nets

dre Iguodala beat the buzzer Curry then made back-to- Golden State shot 13 of 18
with a 3-pointer to end the back shots from 30 feet early (72%) in the third, while the
quarter, making it 98-76. in the fourth to put it away. Nets were 5 for 22.

(AP) — Stephen Curry ex- rant dropped to 28.9.
ited the court to one last
chorus of “MVP! MVP!” Much of his struggles were
chants, a sound that even due to the defense of Dray-
he thought was weird. mond Green, the former De-
fensive Player of the Year.
It is, after all, Kevin Durant’s
home arena. “I wanted that challenge,”
Green said, saying he was
It was Curry’s night, though. “pretty decent” with it.

Curry had 37 points, eas- He was way better than that.
ily winning a matchup of
the NBA’s top two scorers “You can’t do a better job
when Durant had his worst defensively than what Dray-
night of the season, and the mond did tonight,” Warriors
Golden State Warriors beat coach Steve Kerr said.
the Brooklyn Nets 117-99 on
Tuesday. Curry was 12 for 19 overall,
with fans loudly cheering his
A matchup with his former long shots and giving him
teammate had Curry revved “MVP! MVP!” chants while
up, as did the chance to Durant and the home team
bounce back from a loss in misfired.
Charlotte on Sunday.
Andrew Wiggins added 19
“So it’s not the playoffs, but points for the Warriors, who
there’s an intensity that you improved their NBA-best re-
have to show up to beat a cord to 12-2.
team like that,” Curry said.
“You thrive off that competi- James Harden scored 24
tive atmosphere, knowing points for the Nets, who
that there’s a lot of talent on came home from a 5-1 road
the floor.” trip and fell flat in the nation-
ally televised matchup. Du-
Durant came in leading the rant won both meetings last
league with 29.6 points per season against the Warriors,
game, but he managed only his first playing for Brooklyn
19, the first time all season he after leaving Golden State.
didn’t hit 20. He shot 0 for 8
in the decisive third quarter But this is a much improved
and finished 6 for 19 after sit- Warriors team this season and
ting the fourth. showed it off during a domi-
nant third quarter when they
“They got long defenders, outscored the Nets 35-18 af-
guys that can help, so seeing ter a close first half.
bodies all the time when I
had the ball, that’s what great Wiggins had the first two bas-
defenses do. And then some kets of the third and Curry
shots I wish I could’ve had the next two, pushing a five-
back,” Durant said. “I rushed point lead to 71-58. Both had
a few once we got down 15, to go to the bench during
20. I’m trying to get it back the period with their fourth
so fast you end up taking bad fouls, but the Warriors did
shots and rushed shots.” some of their best work with-
out them.
Curry almost caught his for-
mer teammate for the NBA Golden State had an 18-5 run
scoring lead, making nine and held Brooklyn to just
3-pointers and raising his av- one field goal in a span of
erage to 28.7 per game. Du- more than six minutes. An-