The Golden State Warriors finished the regular season exactly as anticipated Wednesday night, taking a 109-94 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, with all-star Kevin Durant leading the charge. Moving with swiftness and with significant power in just his third game back from a left knee injury, Kevin Durant finished the night with a game-high 29 points to guide The Golden State Warriors (67-15), who wrapped up the regular season by winning 15 of their last 16 games.
With this victory being their 207th in the past three seasons, the Golden State Warriors have the record of most wins by any team over a three-year span.
Stephen Curry finished with 20 points, which made him fall one point short of tallying 2000 points for the season. Patrick McCaw chipped in with 13 points and both Klay Thompson (12) and JaVale McGee (11), both finishing with double-digit point tallies in front of the 230th straight sold out crowd at Oracle Arena.
The Warriors played like a true title contender
With both Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green resting, the Golden State Warriors played all 11 available players on their roster, with all 11 players managing to score in this game. All five of the Los Angeles Lakers starters all finished in double figures for scoring, with Jordan Clarkson scoring a team-high 17 points. The Lakers who entered Wednesday's game on a five-game winning streak, finish this season with a 26-56 record.
Kevin Durant was the night's standout performer as used his third and final regular season game back from injury to put the league on notice that he is ready to perform in the playoffs. Kevin Durant finished the night with 29 points (11-of-16 from the field, 5-of-7 from the three-point line, 2-of-4 from the free-throw line), eight rebounds, five assists, one block and one steal.
Durant played a total of 27 minutes and finished with a plus/minus of plus-28.
The Warriors took the lead and never looked back
The turning point in Wednesday's game was when the Warriors took control of the match in the first quarter and managed to get the lead by as much as 19 (35-16, 3:04 left in the quarter). The Los Angeles Lakers managed to pull within eight (47-39) with 8:06 left in the first half but managed to get no closer than a 12 point deficit in the second half.
Both teams had multiple absences in Wednesday's game. For the Golden State Warriors Forwards Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala did not play due to being rested, Forward Matt Barnes was suffering from a right ankle/foot sprain forward Kevon Looney was out with a left hip strain. For the Los Angeles Lakers, Brandon Ingram started despite being questionable with a right patellar tendinitis before the game. Guard D'Angelo Russell was out due to personal reasons, and Center Ivica Zubac was absent due to a Right Ankle Sprain
The Los Angeles Lakers season has ended and will now be focusing on their offseason. However, for the Golden State Warriors, their season is just getting started as they will host the Portland Trail Blazers for their first game of their first-round Western Conference Playoff series.
