Was Kevin Durant's Injury a Blessing in Disguise for Golden State Warriors?

OAKLAND, Calif. — With Kevin Durant back in their starting lineup, the Golden State Warriors are once again whole and firing at full capacity, as evidenced by their Saturday night thrashing of the New Orleans Pelicans, 123-101. 

But as the Dubs head for what they hope will be another long, deep playoff run into June, they also find themselves in the position of having to adapt to Durant’s reintegration into the rotation, which has found an impressive footing during this 14-game win streak that’ll be tested Monday at Oracle Arena against the Utah Jazz.

This dominant stretch of play aside, there is no plausible argument to be made that the Warriors are worse off with Durant, who was putting up MVP-type numbers before spraining his right knee against Washington back on February 28.

Regardless, it’s worth examining first where both the Warriors and Durant are, respectively, before we think about what the next few weeks might entail.

Objectively speaking, this last month or so has produced the best stretch of sustained basketball of Golden State’s season. Its historically good offense went down a tick or two overall, but the defense actually played stingier in Durant’s absence, even if some of that was due to a soft-ish schedule.

The Warriors still lead the league in blocks and steals and are still a top-10 rebounding team. Stephen Curry has been playing like the two-time Most Valuable Player that he is (even if he still doesn’t get the calls that one should). Andre Iguodala has once again become the catalyst that elevates this team to another level. Klay Thompson raised almost all of his seasonal averages with Durant out, and Draymond Green essentially cemented his case for Defensive Player of the Year by leading the NBA in Defensive Win Shares over that time.

Noah Graham/Getty Images

For Durant, the time off was (by his own admission) beneficial for him. “I didn’t think about basketball a lot,” he said after scoring 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting and corralling 10 boards in a team-high 31 minutes on Saturday. “I think that was good, just to get away, kind of have a mental vacation from it all. And when I got to the gym, I just focused on getting better, getting healthy. That was my main concern.”

Even if his shots weren’t falling with their usual efficiency Saturday—Durant was putting up the best true shooting percentage of his career until he went down—that will return with time. Despite Curry sitting out, Durant still got one open look after another and was able to keep separation from defenders.

Of course, his first shot of the game, a nifty baseline dunk that was set up when the help defense spread too far to the perimeter, was a positive sign that Durant is willing to play for contact, to attack the rim when he eyes an opening, and to pull defenders into his orbit, thus potentially creating opportunities for his teammates.

Late in the game, as Steve Kerr was merely trying to push Durant’s conditioning and see how far his All-Star small forward could go in his first night back, it was reassuring to see him willing to move in on shots just to get a feel for the rhythms of the game.

Stepping in on that jumper is not Durant’s most efficient play, but as he said after the game, “To see the ball go through the rim, that felt good.”

With two games left to play until the Warriors start their playoff run later this week—most likely on Saturday afternoon against the Portland Trail Blazers, although the schedule is not finalized—they just need to get more of the same out of Durant.

Staying healthy is paramount, as Golden State saw firsthand the limitations of a diminished Curry in the Finals last year, but as long as Durant’s knee holds up (or even gets stronger and back into game shape during the first couple of rounds), the Warriors will be just fine.

If anything, there were myriad positives from Durant’s absence that may pay dividends. Patrick McCaw, though not adding a lot to the stat sheet, played key starter minutes that he wouldn't have otherwise. Matt Barnes proved that he can be a net positive if need be, even once the playoff rotations tighten up. And David West became a legit second-unit leader, whose mid-range jumpers and deft passing have him looking more like a more agile Mo Speights with every game.

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Durant’s not concerned that his usual shots didn't fall on his first night back. “All that stuff will come around,” he said. And this kind of shot creation is what can take pressure off his teammates in clutch scenarios.  

For now, Durant is just trying to find his personal comfort level again, and the showing against the Pelicans was as good of a first step as the Warriors could’ve hoped for.

It was a return to normalcy that Dubs fans have been praying for since Marcin Gortat threw Zaza Pachulia into Durant’s lower body five-and-a-half weeks back, but now the Warriors may be a stronger team for it.

Durant couldn’t deny the happiness of being back out there in an otherwise meaningless game. “I felt good putting my jersey on, running out with the team, going through the layup lines. It just felt normal again,” he said. “I’m a basketball player. I love playing basketball. That’s my favorite thing to do. So to feel like I’m part of the team, to feel like I'm a part of this energy that we have feels great.”

He kept that jersey on for a good half-hour or so after the game. During that time, he came out of the locker room to hug and kiss his mother, even with mammoth ice packs strapped to each knee. He then sat in his locker stall holding three-month-old Draymond Green Jr. and beaming.

When he did finally peel off the jersey, shower and get dressed, he put on a denim jacket with a peace sign patch just off his right shoulder.

And after 39 days of doubt and finally returning to the Warriors just in time for what might culminate in his first career NBA title, Kevin Durant looked like he had found a measure of peace.

Warriors Insider's Notebook

JaVale of a Time

Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images

What Warriors lineup has been the best this season? Well, the starters—the four All-Stars plus Pachulia—have posted a net rating of 23.1, which is seventh-best among all lineups that've played at least 125 minutes. Not bad!

And the Death Lineup? Also pretty great. Swap out Pachulia for Iguodala and now you're looking at a 23.9 net rating.

But if you swap in JaVale McGee—the last player to make the Warriors roster out of training camp—with Curry, Durant, Thompson and Green, you get a net rating of 32.1, which is the best mark in the NBA, and that's beyond remarkable.

The unfortunate thing is that McGee, for as much improvement as he's exhibited from October to now, probably won't see all that much playing time once Kerr tightens up the rotations in the playoffs.

As of Saturday, David West figures to be the primary big coming off the bench, and Green (whose small-ball center minutes have been minimal since the new year) figures to get much more time defending traditional bigs.

Throw in whatever minutes Pachulia gets just from being the starter—Andrew Bogut averaged 16.6 minutes across 22 playoff games a year ago—and that doesn't leave much playing time to spare.

But if there's a blowout along the way and Kerr is looking to empty the bench in garbage time, you can bet McGee will get the chance to throw down a few lobs.

Erik Malinowski is the Golden State Warriors lead writer for B/R. Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. You can follow him on Twitter (@erikmal) and his forthcoming book on the Warriors is now available for pre-order. All stats via NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com.