Kevin Durant steers Golden State Warriors to big win over Brooklyn Nets

As the New Orleans Pelicans continued to their way to their yet worst season, a talented player like Anthony Davis might consider being a trade to a better team like Golden State Warriors.

The Golden State Warriors will be without All-Star forward Draymond Green for Thursday’s tilt with the Brooklyn Nets after returning home for the birth of his son.

The Brooklyn Nets (7-21) are playing the second game of a back-to-back, this time against Cleveland. They shot 22 percent from three in the first half, missing a lot of wide open looks they’d normally hit. The Warriors essentially had turned the tables on the Nets, winning the third quarter, 39-19.

Here’s how it went down…

Fun fact about Brooklyn that I failed to fully appreciate until watching them tonight: they play at the fastest pace in the league and have the third most 3-point attempts in the National Basketball Association. Curry got things started with a quick steal, which led to a fast-break dunk and an and-1 for Kevin Durant.

But you probably wish you didn’t.

Lin finished with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 11 assists, 8 of them coming in the second quarter, as they held Golden State to just 16 points. Golden State outscored the Nets by 34 points in the second half and walked away with a 117-101 win. A sequence that had myself and most of Twitter chuckling came when Zaza Pachulia had back-to-back layups in the first half that were counteracted by Brook Lopez leaking out for freebies on the other end. He was the dominant force in Brooklyn’s offense and without his attack the Nets struggled to score. DeAndre Liggins is the stop-gap choice to replace him in the starting lineup, but Liggins is better known for his defense and remains offensively challenged. And the Golden State bench stepped up to close the period strong with an 88-84 advantage. They have lost all four by at least 12 points.

The Nets turned the ball over 16 times in the second half and shot just 4-of-15 from 3-point after shooting 9-of-20 in the first half.

Kevin Durant led the way with 26 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. The Nets committed 26 turnovers leading to 32 Golden State points, including 18 for 25 in the second half alone. The Warriors’ latest win over the Nets reveals a sliver of hope for Detroit.