But you can’t forget about Durant, even in the midst of watching a team with so many weapons who can explode at any time.That pull-up jumper looked easy, and the moment Eric Paschall closed out and gave him the baseline, Durant’s explosion looked intact when he blew by the youngster for an easy dunk.
Of course, the same thing happened last year, the Lakers being bullied by the Clippers by 10 in the opener, and everyone panicked. The Lakers proceeded to win 17 of their next 18 games on their way to a championship run that the Clippers eventually watched from home.Yet this Lakers season is different. In some ways, this Lakers season will be more treacherous. This season will be as much about protecting their health as improving their record. While they should have a better team — newcomers Dennis Schroder and Montrezl Harrell brought new energy with a combined 31 points and 22 rebounds — this season is about being a conservative and careful team with James’ age and Davis’ frailties. Short offseason. Four months till spring. Safety first.
Kelly Oubre wasn’t much better, bricking all six of his 3-point attempts scoring just six points on 3-of-14 shooting, but at least he added seven boards, two assists, one steal, two blocks and three turnovers while he was out there, and it’s not like he’s never going to hit another 3-pointer again. He shot 35.2% on 5.5 attempts per game last season, and he should see plenty of wide-open looks playing alongside Curry (he did on Tuesday, but they didn’t drop). Oubre tends to find ways to be effective even when his shot isn’t falling, and like Curry, I think having Draymond come back to help facilitate the offense will create a lot of open looks/oops for Oubre.None of the other Warriors did anything worth writing about, but I’d expect most of them to be better on Christmas vs. the Bucks.
“I think [assistant coach] Ron Adams said that at halftime they had 23 points on one-on-one plays. Just felt like we were kind of backing off and they got guys who can pull up off the dribble and score. Both Kevin and Kyrie really just had their way in that first half. The lack of physicality and competition was the most disappointing thing.”
“It’ll be our first taste of everyone coming for us this year. When you’re the champion, everybody circles you on the schedule,” Vogel said pregame. “They get up for that game and tonight will be the first example of that. It really comes down to, once the ceremony is over, that’s behind us. It’s time to play a basketball game. And we have to be the aggressors.”They most certainly weren’t.
다파벳
다파벳