OAKLAND, Calif. _ It would usually devastate a franchise if they had injuries to two All-Stars and a dependable veteran. The Warriors have a unique luxury, though.
Even if Stephen Curry (left groin), Draymond Green (right foot) and Shaun Livingston (right foot) stayed in the trainer's room, they still have one of the NBA's top scorers (Kevin Durant) and shooters (Klay Thompson). So, the Warriors had no problem dismantling the Brooklyn Nets with a 116-100 victory on Saturday at Oracle Arena.
Durant finished with a team-leading 28 points, while shooting 9-of-15 from the field and 9-of-9 from the free-throw line along with 11 assists, three steals and a block. Thompson added 24 points on 11-of-20 shooting, despite shooting only 1 of 4 from the field and collecting three turnovers and three fouls. Warriors guard Quinn Cook started in Curry's place and scored a season-high 27 points while going 11 of 16 from the field and 3 of 5 from 3-point range. Cook also made his first seven shots, collected six rebounds and added an assist, which entailed throwing a lob to third-year center Damian Jones.
Warriors forward Jonas Jerebko started in Green's place and added eight points on 4 of 9 shooting, three rebounds and two assists. Though second-year forward Jordan Bell was demoted back to the reserves, he added five points on 2 of 3 shooting along with five rebounds, two steals and a block.
The Warriors (11-3) rectified Thursday's loss against Milwaukee by holding the Nets (5-6) to only three double-digit scorers in Joe Harris (24 points on 9 of 12 shooting), D'Angelo Russell (12 points on 5 of 16 shooting) and Spencer Dinwiddie (14 points on 5 of 9 shooting).
