OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Kevin Durant apparently has no hard feelings toward Oklahoma City, despite the backlash he received after leaving the Thunder for the Golden State Warriors in the NBA offseason.
Durant’s foundation has donated $57,000 toward an effort to build a new school for the…
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kevin Durant had 29 points, nine assists and six rebounds, and the Golden State Warriors beat the injury-depleted Los Angeles Lakers for the second time in three days, 109-85 on Friday night.
Stephen Curry scored 24 points and Klay Thompson had 18 in the Warriors’ 10th consecutive victory. They followed up their 43-point win in Oakland on Wednesday with another comfortable win in these clubs’ fifth meeting in 43 days.
Draymond Green had 12 points and eight rebounds before leaving in the third quarter with a bruised left ankle from a collision with teammate Ian Clark.
Jordan Clarkson scored 20 points for the Lakers, who played without injured starters Julius Randle, Nick Young and D’Angelo Russell.
Los Angeles beat the Warriors three weeks ago at Staples Center, but couldn’t keep up this week. The Lakers gave up 149 points on Wednesday, and they never made it close Friday with three of their top five scorers sidelined.
The Lakers were the last team to beat the Warriors, notching a 20-point blowout on Nov. 4. Since then, Golden State has found the rhythm necessary to become the powerhouse everyone expected when Durant abandoned Oklahoma City to join up with the two-time defending Western Conference champions in July.
TIP-INS
Warriors: Clark was prone under the basket when Green fell and tripped over his head. Clark was hit in the throat, but showed…
Nothing was easy about Brandon Ingram’s first start. He guarded Kevin Durant. Draymond Green guarded him. The Lakers rookie found himself thrown into some of the toughest matchups in the league right away.
It was a “welcome to the NBA” moment, certainly, but Ingram refused to frame it that way.
“I’m in the NBA now,” Ingram said. “Guarding a lot of guys, there’s a lot of different guys in this league so it’s not a surprise anymore, it’s just going out there and trying to compete.”
Ingram started in place of Julius Randle, who sat out the game Wednesday because of a hip pointer/oblique injury. Randle hopes to be able to play Friday against the Golden State Warriors. He even said before Wednesday’s game that if the Lakers were not playing on consecutive nights, he might have been able to avoid missing a game.
The Lakers could be without starting shooting guard Nick Young, who jammed the second toe on his left foot and sprained it. Young is listed as questionable for Friday’s game. They’ll also be without starting point guard D’Angelo Russell for what’s expected to be two weeks.
“We’re getting hit by the injury bug,” Young said. “Miss my man Russell out there, and Randle. We needed those guys tonight.”
Russell had a platelet-rich plasma injection in his left knee, a procedure by…
