LOS ANGELES — Golden State tried a few different things on offense to open Game 6. They started small with Shaun Livingston replacing Andrew Bogut in the starting lineup. They had Draymond Green setting a lot of very high picks for Stephen Curry (with Curry dumping the ball off the Green after the trap). But eventually, Steve Kerr and the Warriors finally settled on something that worked:
Give the ball to Kevin Durant and get out of the way.
Durant had 38 points in the first half — a first-half playoff high for him — on 12-of-17 shooting, including 4-of-8 from three, 88.8 true shooting percentage. Those 38 points tie the NBA record for most points in a half in the playoffs.
KD IS UNCONSCIOUS pic.twitter.com/CwmTOJ5gPi
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 27, 2019
KD kept it short and sweet.
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 27, 2019
"Are you in a zone where you feel like you can score at will?"
"Yeah." pic.twitter.com/tdeRqyIZY7
Golden State led 72-53 at the half.
It helped to have KD take over after Curry rolled his ankle in the first quarter. Curry played on it a while, including hitting a three on the next possession, but later went back to the locker room. He returned and played the final 7:45 of the first half, and showed some moves.
Mostly, however, he and everyone else passed to Durant and got out of the way.
