OAKLAND, Calif. _ A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Warriors forward Kevin Durant developed a reputation as solely a scorer.
He has since disproven that in recent seasons by offering a blend of rebounding, passing and defense. So on the same night the Warriors hosted a Star Wars themed night, Durant provided yet another case study on why he remains the most critical star as Stephen Curry stays sidelined with an MCL tear in his left knee.
In the Warriors' 117-107 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday at Oracle Arena, Durant nearly posted a triple double with 29 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
The Warriors (56-21) featured many contributors, including Klay Thompson (23 points), Quinn Cook (19) and Draymond Green (13 points, 12 assists, six rebounds). Yet, Durant's force provided a trickle-down effect elsewhere against the Suns (19-58), which have lost 15 consecutive games.
Without the Warriors' leading scorer, Durant took control of the offense with ball handling and shooting while still staying efficient from the field (12-of-19) and from 3-point range (3-of-6). When the Warriors cut the Suns' lead to 59-58 at halftime after going on a 14-5 run, Durant dished out three assists.
As the Warriors cemented a 75-69 lead with 5:46 left in the third quarter, Durant opened the second half setting Thompson up for an open 3-pointer, Kevon Looney for an easy dunk and Green for a layup. Durant then finished the quarter with five more points of his own.
Durant's latest performance sums up why he found little reason to watch tape for how the Warriors went 9-2 without Curry when he missed 11 games in December after initially spraining his right ankle. It has become ingrained in Durant's mind on how to play accordingly.
Then, Durant averaged 28.8 points on 46.5 percent shooting, 8.63 rebounds and 6.27 assists. When Curry missed six more games this month with another right ankle injury, Durant averaged 35 points on 45.3 percent shooting, 7.3 rebounds and 4.66 assists in the first three games before suffering his rib injury on March 14 against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Durant had a false start when he returned last Thursday against Indiana and was ejected before halftime for arguing foul calls. In the two games since then, Durant has returned back to normal. In the Warriors' win on Saturday in Sacramento, Durant scored 22 points on efficient shooting from the field (9-of-11), from 3-point range (2-of-5) and free-throw shooting (9-of-11) while adding 10 rebounds and five assists.
