Written by Grant Hughes at BleacherReport.com
Having handily dispatched the Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs in January, the Golden State Warriors now turn their search for worthy foes toward Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Dubs and Thunder meet for the first time on Feb. 6, and if you jump past all of the caveats—Golden State might be the best team ever, picking its prime threat is like asking which show pony had the best chance of outracing Secretariat, etc.—you can make the case that KD and Oklahoma City have what it takes to give the Dubs the kind of run nobody else has.
Kevin Durant: Scheme Destroyer
Durant has always hurt the Warriors. His career scoring average against them is 30.3 points per game, his third-highest against a single team. And his 47 percent accuracy rate from long range is his best against any opponent, per Basketball-Reference.com.
Because Golden State has only been a league-devouring monster since last season, it’s best to look at what Durant has done to the Warriors recently.
Now seems like a good time to mention the 30-point half he hung on the Dubs on Dec. 18, 2014.
He also hit the Warriors for 36 points on 14-of-18 shooting in a 12-point win less than a month later.
Part of the reason Durant presents problems for the Warriors is simple: He’s the best offensive player in the league not named Stephen Curry, and everybody struggles to contain him.
“There are certain players in the NBA that I term ‘X’s and O’s Busters,'” Stu Jackson, current NBA TV analyst and former NBA coach, general manager and league executive told Bleacher Report. “It doesn’t matter what you do strategically against him. He’s going to get to spots on the floor and get shots off regardless of what you do.”
General brilliance aside, Durant is also uniquely equipped to succeed at the things Golden State forces its top-flight opponents to do. By staying home on shooters and switching aggressively, the Warriors often invite scorers to try to beat them in isolation.
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