Despite only tallying 13 points on 50 percent shooting, Durant didn’t disappoint his new home crowd.
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Hi everybody. Kevin Durant Made his Oracle arena debut last night.
At halftime, Durant was the first player out on the court, and when he came over to say hello to Curry, several hundred fans had their cell phones up to document the moment.
“I’m just doing my part and I’m bringing my colleagues along with me”. Kyrie [Irving] being such a great guy he is, he told me before the tip that he was throwing it to me no matter what, and I knew I was going to pull the first shot since like yesterday. “It allows him to make whatever decision he wants to make, whereas I think if (the Thunder) go to the Finals, it kind of puts a stranglehold on his decision”. “Luckily it went in”, he said. Warriors fans got a small taste of what’s to come from their new team in the 2016-17 season, and KD was unstoppable as he scored 10 straight points in the quarter’s opening minutes.
“Make sure you all give Steph some crap for his grand entrance”, Green said with a laugh.
It didn’t take long for Kevin Durant to give DubNation a preview of what to except in the upcoming National Basketball Association season. Then, each of the three Warriors on Team USA – Durant, Thompson and Green – were each shown in order on the scoreboard, receiving three more ovations from the partisan fans.
Former first round draft pick Yi Jianlian led China with 18 points and seven rebounds.
All of which made for a fine backdrop for Durant, who could do no wrong.
This was evident during the pregame introductions of the players.
Maybe even Durant felt it, at least as far as Green could see and hear. He was 4-of-8 from the field.
Kevin Durant got the Oracle crowd on its feet during USA’s win over China.
“Just to play with him on this floor is great. And to be playing for our country (in the building) where we suit up 41 times a year, it’s special”.
Early in the fourth quarter, when Durant unleashed a filthy shake-and-bake move to lose a defender on a step-back 3-point jumper, folks in the crowd responded as it does when Curry follows that script.
They held their breath. After the game, a couple thousand fans crowded in and around the bowl surrounding the court, simply because Curry hadn’t left their sight.
Durant is trying to remove himself from the situation in Oklahoma City.
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The game never became closer, with U.S. jumping out to a lead as big as 50 before locking up the 49-point win, barely covering the 48.5 spread given by Vegas prior to the game.
