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THE SCORE OF THE BOX
OAKLAND – The Warriors closed their homeland Monday night with a third straight win, beating the Orlando Magic 116-110.
It took a lot of work, while the Warriors eliminated a deficit of 18 points and dominated Orlando 69-46 in the second half.
Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson combined 78 points to strengthen the attack, while the Warriors were strong in defense in the second half to finish.
Here are three points to remember from a match that has been tight throughout the last quarter:
Durant and more Durant
With Stephen Curry and Draymond Green absent, the Warriors are trying to fill a huge void. Someone must find another level. Durant accepted the challenge and became familiar with the last three games.
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Durant's aggression at both ends was the driving force behind the return. He managed the big score, with 49 points, the highest of the season, and the making of the game, with nine assists.
For good measure, Durant blocked some shots, including a spectacular rejection of the evasive check of Magic goalkeeper Evan Fournier in the third quarter.
Durant was over-13 over 40 minutes of action.
He has scored 125 points in the last three games (41.7 per game) on 42 shots on 80 (52.5%) of the field.
Hot Klay burns
Klay Thompson spent three quarters looking in vain for his shot. While Durant had 36 points, Thompson was the Warriors' second-leading scorer with 10 out of 4 shots on 13 shots, including 1 in 5 from the depth.
This helps explain why the Warriors entered the fourth quarter by four.
This is where Thompson found everything he was looking for. He scored 19 points in the fourth quarter on 7 out of 10 shots, including 5 out of 7 at the deep end. He finished with 29 points on 11 shots out of 23, including 6 out of 12 over the arc.
The 19 points equal Thompson's career best for fourth quarter points.
Great qualified men are a problem
Even at the age of "no position" basketball in the NBA, a highly skilled traditional center can do a lot of damage, as Orlando's Nikola Vucevic proves in this match.
At the end of the match, as the Warriors made their comeback, he was the centerpiece of Magic's offense.
No matter which of the big men the warriors were throwing at him – and they tried four different players – Vucevic seemed to have a huge advantage. The 7-foot USC product had 30 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
What was most striking was the relative ease with which Vecevic operated for much of the game. He had his way both inside and on the perimeter; he dropped into a 3-pointer just to prove that he could.
The Warriors did not resolve until the fourth quarter, Kevon Looney playing a powerful defense and getting help almost every time the ball found Vucevic.
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