Celtics at Warriors
It'll be Kevin Durant vs. the rest of his All-Star teammates next month in Los Angeles, but he looks plenty comfortable playing with the likes of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green for now. Durant will try to lead the Golden State Warriors to a third straight win when they host the Boston Celtics on Saturday in a showdown between conference leaders.
Durant, who never got a chance to be picked by teammate Curry before being snapped up by LeBron James in the All-Star draft on Thursday, recorded a triple-double later that night in a 126-113 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. "Life could be much worse," Durant told reporters after the win. "It was definitely a fun day. I was looking forward to seeing who was going to be on the All-Star teams and looking forward to seeing what my fine (for public criticism of an official) was going to be. And also, most importantly, looking forward to playing tonight. I'm glad we got a W." The Celtics' All-Stars will be split as well, with center Al Horford joining Curry and point guard Kyrie Irving reuniting with James and getting a chance to play with Durant. Boston snapped a four-game slide with a 113-102 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday despite Horford (concussion protocol) sitting out the contest.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC
ABOUT THE CELTICS (35-14): Boston held a team meeting when it got to Los Angeles on Monday and played better in a 108-107 loss to the Lakers before putting the pieces together in Wednesday's triumph over the Clippers. "When you're hitting a lull of losing games, you can tend to go your own direction and try to figure it out on your own," Irving told reporters. "For us, we have great leadership at the top with (coach) Brad (Stevens), and he echoes a message to us leaders on the team, and then we go out there and try to maximize that opportunity of getting better every single day. And I think that we did a great job of just putting everything out on the table. And it's just about being professional and going out there and executing." Irving managed 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in just 28 minutes on Tuesday and is averaging 30 points over his last four games.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (39-10): Durant posted a career high with 14 assists in a win over the New York Knicks on Tuesday and went for the triple-double on Thursday after being told he was the No. 1 pick in the All-Star draft. "It's definitely humbling," Durant told reporters. "You get respect from your peers. That's all you want, and I feel like I've been earning that respect my whole career. ... I didn't think that the All-Star game would give me that type of feeling, being picked in the All-Star game at No. 1 would give me that feeling of respect from everybody. It's cool, it's good to see and I'm looking forward to having a good time." Curry, who snagged Thompson and Green in the draft to keep three-fourths of the Golden State All-Stars together, added 25 points and nine assists in Thursday's triumph.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Thompson went 7-of-9 from 3-point range on Thursday -- the second time in four games that he knocked down seven 3-pointers.
2. Celtics G Marcus Smart (hand) sat out Wednesday's game after receiving stitches for a laceration and is day-to-day.
3. Boston shot just 32.9 percent from the floor but still managed to squeeze out a 92-88 home win over Golden State on Nov. 16.