KD, Kyrie hand Warriors crushing defeat in NBA season opener

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

 

What should we call the NBA’s latest dynamic duo? “Double K?” “The Killer K’s?” “The K’s of death?” or “Kool K’s?”

Whatever name we finally settle on, the return of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in the NBA was a sight for sore eyes. It was the Golden State Warriors who served as the first victim to a drubbing opening victory by the Brooklyn Nets, 125-99.

The electrifying duo dazzled reminded spectators why many pegged them to come out of the East after taking matters into their own hands in the first quarter, going into a scoring frenzy to outscore the whole Warriors’ team in a 12-minute shooting clinic.

Irving finished the ball game with 26 points on 10 of 16 shooting while Durant cruised through the scoring column for 22 points.

Stephen Curry and the revamped Warriors struggled in the entire first half after failing to produce scoring runs and wasn’t able to find a way to stop the Nets’ blazing offense.

Despite a double-double performance from Curry who scored 20 points and dished out 10 dimes, the Warriors never threatened after the initial flurry of the Nets.

Aside from Irving and Durant’s offensive explosion, Brooklyn also got tons of help from their balanced bench scoring headed by Caris Levert who contributed 20 points.

Meanwhile, in the second game of the season opener, Paul George and the Los Angeles Clippers spoiled the Lakers’ ring ceremony after outlasting them in a slugfest, 116-109.