Kevin Durant Leads Steph, Draymond-Less Warriors Past Trae Young, Hawks

Not even off-court drama can slow down the Golden State Warriors. 

The two-time defending champions defeated the Atlanta Hawks 110-103 on Tuesday at Oracle Arena and improved to 12-3. The Hawks dropped their fifth straight and fell to 3-11.

Golden State prevailed even though it announced Draymond Green was suspended for the contest following an altercation with Kevin Durant on Monday. Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com reported the tension spilled into the locker room, and “some witnesses described the closed-door exchange as one of the most intense of this Warriors era.”

Durant (29 points) and Klay Thompson (24 points) carried the offense without Green and Stephen Curry, while Taurean Prince (22 points) led the way for the Hawks. Trae Young finished with just four points and nine assists behind 2-of-12 shooting from the field.

Warriors Only Thing Standing in Warriors’ Way

Regardless of what happens the rest of this season, the Warriors are one of the greatest teams in NBA history.

They reached the last four NBA Finals and won three, and the only time they didn’t lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy in that span came after they won an NBA-record 73 regular-season games. Just for good measure, they added four-time All-Star DeMarcus Cousins to a core featuring Curry, Durant, Thompson and Green.

Barring injury (Curry missed Tuesday’s game with a strained groin, and Cousins is recovering from an Achilles injury), nobody in the league is going to beat that combination if it is operating smoothly.

Whether the Warriors will operate on all cylinders or let off-court issues and a lack of focus derail them from within is the biggest question.

Concerns took center stage during Monday’s overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers when Green didn’t pass to Durant in the final moments of regulation. The decision led to an exchange on the bench and the reported altercation Wojnarowski and Spears described.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, “Green challenged Kevin Durant about Durant’s impending free agency” during the back-and-forth. Durant has a player option on his contract for the 2019-20 season.

Head coach Steve Kerr said the Durant and Green issue would remain “within the team,” per 95.7 The Game, but president of basketball operations Bob Myers revealed the two haven’t talked about the incident, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

Tim Kawakami of The Athletic described a situation in which Durant’s future is clearly an issue:

It would not be unprecedented if the Warriors got in their own way, as Green’s suspension in the 2016 NBA Finals was an integral component of blowing a 3-1 lead to the Cleveland Cavaliers. This is a different situation, but it was an example of more than just the opponent preventing victory.

There is ultimately enough talent in place for Golden State to not only rise above the distractions but also dominate the rest of the NBA in the playoffs.

As long as Durant’s potential departure and the possibility of drama doesn’t split the team apart to a point it becomes an issue on the floor, nobody is going to prevent a three-peat.

Trae Young’s Shooting Struggles Shouldn’t Concern Hawks

The Hawks aren’t going to win anything of significance this season, but they have multiple building blocks in place.

Young (No. 5), Kevin Huerter (No. 19) and Omari Spellman (No. 30) were all first-round picks in 2018 and on the floor picking up experience against the two-time defending champions.

Young is the centerpiece not only because of his draft status but also because he was a headline-maker in college as a consensus All-American who led the nation in points (27.4) and assists (8.7) per game in his one season at Oklahoma. He frequently pulled up from well behind the three-point line but could also blow past defenders who pressed up on those looks.

Unfortunately for the Hawks, that prowess from deep was missing Tuesday. He went 0-of-5, continuing a pattern that saw him shoot 20.6 percent from three-point range in his first six November games while averaging 5.2 turnovers a night.

The totals represent a drastic difference from October, when he averaged three turnovers per game while shooting 34 percent from three-point range, per ESPN.com.

The Oklahoma product is the future of the franchise and will be under the microscope all season. Every misstep he takes will generate headlines and lead to some worry he won’t live up to his potential, but there is no reason to fret.

This season is solely about getting the young pieces experience, and it’s not the end of the world if that means Young forces the issue at times and shoots a poor percentage. That will help him learn the value of shot selection in the NBA, and the Warriors still respected him enough to devote additional defensive attention his way:

Even with the shooting struggles, he flashed his sky-high ceiling with double-doubles in four of his first six games this month. He is making correct reads more often than not to rack up those assists, and he displayed his passing ability with well-timed lobs and crisp throws through multiple defenders against the Warriors.

The ability to impact the game beyond just scoring is a skill many ball-dominant youngsters need years to master, and Young is already operating at a high level.

As long as he is garnering experience, keeping his teammates involved and not shying away from taking shots at this stage of his career, there is no reason to worry about the 20-year-old’s development.

What’s Next?

Both teams are on the road Thursday with the Hawks facing the Denver Nuggets and the Warriors playing the Houston Rockets in a Western Conference Finals rematch.