CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ The trainer's room suddenly became filled with the NBA's best shooter and the NBA's best defender. Fortunately for the Warriors, they still had one of the game's best scorers.
Life without Stephen Curry and Draymond Green would cripple most franchises. But not every team has Kevin Durant, who only had to be himself to lift the Warriors to a 101-87 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday. He posted his ninth career triple double with 35 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and it did not even seem he needed to do anything differently than he already has done in his 10-year NBA career.
The sequences seemingly played for a loop. Durant used his refined footwork and jab fakes to set himself up for open drives to the basket and open shots in the post. He did the same thing to find open shots for teammates, including open jumpers for Klay Thompson (22 points), Nick Young (10 points), Andre Iguodala (eight points) and Quinn Cook (eight points).
This marked the third time under Warriors coach Steve Kerr that the Warriors started 5-0 on a trip.
Kemba Walker led the Hornets with 24 points, six rebounds and five assists.
