Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry set for early-season battle for NBA supremacy
The matchup Tuesday between the Golden State Warriors and Brooklyn Nets could not only be a potential NBA Finals preview, but also a clash of the NBA's two best players.
The Warriors currently own the NBA's best record (11-2), while the Nets have the fourth-best mark (10-4). Meanwhile, the team's stars — Kevin Durant (29.6 PPG) and Stephen Curry (28.1 PPG) — are the top two scorers in the league.
The duo dominated together from 2016 to 2019 when both were with Golden State, making three consecutive trips to the NBA Finals and winning a pair of championships. Now, they both appear to be playing some of the best basketball of their careers.
When asked about the matchup with his former team, though, Durant downplayed the significance.
"It's just another game," he said. "Obviously, they are the best team in the league, and they are playing at an elite level, but it's a regular-season game."
While Durant might not appreciate the significance, there is reason for fans to be excited about the matchup.
With LeBron James sidelined due to an abdominal strain and Giannis Antetokounmpo's Milwaukee Bucks faltering early in the season, it's hard to deny that Durant and Curry have been a cut above the league. And that might still be the case even if James and Antetokounmpo were operating under ideal circumstances.
For instance, Curry is the only player in the NBA currently averaging at least 20 points who has an average shot distance of 20 feet. He has already made 67 3-pointers through 13 games, seven more than the No. 2 long-range shooter (Sacramento's Buddy Hield).
Curry is on pace to make 422 3-pointers this season, which would break his own single-season record of 402 during his unanimous MVP campaign of 2015-16.
As for Durant, he has been the model of efficiency to start this season, leading the league in scoring despite ranking just 25th in minutes per game and 16th in shot attempts. This becomes even more impressive when factoring in that he is the only player in the NBA currently making at least 10 field goals per game (11).
Durant's current field-goal percentage of 58.6% would be a new career-high, and he would be the first player since Bernard King in 1984-85 to lead the league in scoring despite not ranking in the top 10 in shots per game.
When the Nets and Warriors square off, it will not only be a potential NBA Finals preview, it could also have ramifications on the MVP race as well.
