That dominance on each end of the court is intertwined. The Warriors offense has made Durant’s life easier, thus allowing him to go full tilt on the other end.
“Obviously, scoring the ball so much, it’s hard to do both, but now we got so much firepower, I can just focus on defense,” Durant told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols. “Just helping, just using my length and double-teaming and catching the offense off guard, just getting my hands in the passing lane and trying to protect the rim. Defense is something you gotta want to do, and right now, I really want to do it.”
Once again, the tenacity of the Warriors defense is going somewhat under the radar.
Championship teams often have lulls in which they slack off, and defense is the easiest area to do that. The Cleveland Cavaliers are prone to taking naps on defense until games really matter.
But in the Warriors’ fourth season of championship contention, they’re the No. 1 defense in the league, allowing just 100.6 points per 100 possessions. They also force the 10th-most turnovers in the league — a sign that they’re still scrambling on defense.
Durant has added an unforeseen boost on that end. For a team with this much firepower, it’s almost unfair to be so good on defense. And now they’ve turned a 7-foot offensive weapon with a 7-foot-5 wingspan into an elite rim protector.
Article Appeared @http://www.businessinsider.com/kevin-durants-defense-makes-warriors-scarier-2017-12