After another 40+ point game last night, Kevin Durant knows he should have scored well more than 50 points had some of his shots fallen in.
Durant topped his 44-point game two nights earlier with another outstanding performance, scoring a season-high 49 points in a 116-110 victory over the Orlando Magic on Monday night. But the star, ever the competitor was not impressed with shooting 16 for 33.
“I’m pretty sure all my teammates felt that way,” the typically efficient Golden State star said.
Durant gave Golden State the lead on a three-point play with 1:19 left before hitting a 3-pointer with 22 seconds remaining to send the Warriors past the Orlando Magic.
“I still missed 17 shots. I ticked off a 50-piece. I felt like I had some shots that I wish I could have made last game and this game,” Durant said.
“I could be in a better groove I feel like. Just playing a lot of minutes and having the ball in your hands, especially with the way the game is, the flow of the game. Obviously, if you can score a little bit, you’re going to score some points in this league.”
Klay Thompson was once again the scoring partner finishing with 29 points as the two-time defending NBA champions played without injured All-Stars Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. The past three games, Durant has scored 125 points and Thompson 91.
“It was hard to stop them. That’s why they’re such great players,” Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic said. “They made shot after shot at the end.”
Durant became the seventh player in Warriors history to post consecutive 40-point games — along with Rick Barry, Wilt Chamberlain, Curry, Antawn Jamison, Purvis Short, and Thompson, according to Elias.
Durant also had nine assists, six rebounds, two steals, and two blocks, having taken his defense to another level the past week.
He and Thompson have carried the load as the Warriors won a third straight following a rare four-game losing streak.
Up next for the Warriors are the Raptors on Thursday trying for a ninth straight victory in the series and fifth in a row in Toronto.
