Kevin Durant returned from injury with a bang on Monday, scoring 27 points as the Golden State Warriors overpowered the Philadelphia 76ers 119-108.
Durant, who missed the Warriors previous game with a bruised left hand, showed no sign of lingering aftereffects to help power the Dubs to their fourth straight victory.
The Warriors, who are already assured of a place in the playoffs, improved to a league best 50-9 after rattling up their seventh win in eight games.
Klay Thompson added 21 points for Golden State, while Zaza Pachulia scored a season-best 16 points.
Draymond Green chipped in with 14 points, 11 rebounds and five steals.
However, it was a rare off-night for Stephen Curry. The Warriors star contributed a respectable 19 points, but drew a blank from three-point range, missing all 11 of his attempts.
It was only the third time in 211 games Curry has failed to connect with at least one three-pointer.
“I forgot to adjust to the thickness of the air,” Curry joked. “It happens, but you have to find other ways to impact the game.”
“I thought we played a really good game,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. “We just couldn’t make a shot, but we made up for it by getting to the free-throw line.”
Sixers coach Brett Brown said even despite Curry’s off-night, the depth of the Warriors offense had been hard to counter.
“At times, we got lucky with them as a team,” Brown said.
“They didn’t shoot it the way a team would normally shoot it, but when you take away something, something else gets exposed. It’s hard to guard everything,” he said.
The defeat capped a day of disappointment for the Sixers, who earlier revealed that rookie center Joel Embiid — the team’s top scorer and rebounder — faced an indefinite layoff due to a knee injury.
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