LOS ANGELES—Kevin Durant’s smooth-as-silk NBA return is “kind of scary for the rest of the league,” Steve Kerr, his former coach at the Golden State Warriors, said Tuesday.
Kerr coached Durant through two NBA Championship runs with the Warriors and had a court-side seat as Durant played his first meaningful NBA game since suffering a career-threatening torn Achilles tendon playing for Golden State in game five of the 2019 NBA Finals.
Not long after Durant departed for Brooklyn as a free agent, but by the time he finally suited up for the Nets on Tuesday, in the first day of the 2020-21 season, it had been 561 days since his last competitive game.
“(His play) is kind of scary for the rest of the league,” said Kerr, whose Warriors were blown out 125-99.
“I couldn’t tell one difference between seeing him 18 months ago to seeing him (now),” Kerr added.
Durant meshed effortlessly with Nets star Kyrie Irving.
The four-time NBA scoring champion showed flashes of fire. He threw down a dunk that put the Nets up 18-8 with 7:20 left in the first quarter.
His 10 first-quarter points coupled with Irving’s 17 were more than the 25 scored by the Warriors in the opening period.
It only got better for the Nets, and Durant and Irving along with the rest of their starters sat out the fourth quarter with the game well in hand.
Durant finished with 22 points in just under 25 minutes, connecting on seven of 16 shots from the floor and draining all seven of his free throws.
Durant insisted there was no extra emotional element to facing his former team.
He and Warriors star Stephen Curry exchanged a warm embrace on court before the game.
“No emotions at all,” Durant said. “It’s good to see old friends, old teammates.
“But I wouldn’t say there was any emotion. I think guys came out here and played extremely hard and competed and put on a good show for opening night.”
Nets fans, however, might have been feeling plenty of emotion after watching the long-delayed pairing of Durant and Irving.
But new Nets coach Steve Nash—a two-time NBA MVP in his first head coaching job—doesn’t want to pile the pressure of expectations on Durant.
“That’s true and fair (that Durant looks good),” Nash said. “He’s done everything and he is in absolutely the ultimate position to come back from this injury.
“But we also have to give Kevin time to play NBA games and not get carried away.
“He looks amazing, he’s playing amazing, but I want to just give him breathing room and not put on too much pressure after not playing competitive basketball for 18 months.”
Shorter season
It’s the start of a shortened 72-game season—10 fewer than usual for each team.
With Covid-19 still rampant in the United States, the NBA had yet to fill in the fixtures for the second half of the campaign, allowing flexibility in case of postponements and cancellations.
“When you’re playing outside a bubble, it’s almost impossible to avoid this virus,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged Tuesday.
However, he was hopeful that a vigorous testing program would allow the league to spot those infected in time to separate them from teammates and prevent major outbreaks.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point we have to postpone or reschedule games,” Silver said. “I believe in the protocols we have in place, but I think until we see what the rhythm of the season is we aren’t going to know how effective it is.”
The Warriors, who struggled last season and weren’t among the teams to resume play in the NBA’s quarantine bubble in Orlando, were playing their first game since March.
Stephen Curry, who played just five games last season before suffering a broken hand, scored 20 points on seven of 27 shooting.
James Wiseman, second overall pick in the draft last month, got the start at center, despite missing the Warriors’ three pre-season games after testing positive for coronavirus prior to training camp.
The towering 19-year-old rookie threw down a two-handed dunk in the opening moments and finished with 19 points and six rebounds.
But with Draymond Green absent with a foot injury, the Warriors offered little resistance early on. They trailed by as many as 21 in the first quarter—a deficit that swelled to as many as 38 in the fourth quarter.