Oakland (USA), – The pivot DeMarcus Cousins confirmed his great moment of form and with a double-double of 28 points and 12 rebounds, plus five assists and two blocks, he led the winning attack of the Golden State Warriors , they prevailed by 116-99 to the Nuggets of Denver and take two games of advantage in the fight for the best mark of the Western Conference.
Forward Kevin Durant, before being sent off for a double technical foul in the third period, had 21 points and six assists that made him the second highest scorer in the Warriors on a five-player roster, including four starters, who had two digits
Durant was expelled when he protested ostensibly to referee Zach Zarba for not having called a foul to power forward Paul Millsap, of the Nuggets, which marked him in a triple attempt that did not reach the basket for having hit him in the arm.
The protests of Durant, a two-time MVP, cost him fourteenth and fifteenth technical fouls so far this season, which means that another one he receives will cost him a game of automatic suspension.
The expulsion of Durant arrived a few hours after it was known that the NBA had fined him with his teammates Draymond Green and Stephen Curry, who harshly criticized the arbitration they suffered last Friday in the game they lost in overtime by 131- 130 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. All of them questioned the “integrity” of the arbitrators.
Green was the one who received the highest fine, $ 35,000; Curry followed with 25,000 and Durant had to pay $ 15,000.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr admitted that for none of them was the NBA’s response a surprise.
“We know how standards work and it’s no surprise,” said Kerr. “The players also know that perfectly.”
Curry contributed 17 points, including five three-pointers, as the third highest scorer, five rebounds and five assists.
The star base of the Warriors established its best mark as a professional by winning five consecutive matches in five consecutive matches and reached 16,236 points, which surpassed Chris Mullin (16,235) in fourth place on the all-time list of the Warriors team.
Curry also reached the 340 triples so far this season, the second best record in the history of the NBA, only surpassed by the 402 he got in the 2015-16.
But the important thing for the Warriors as a team was to get the victory that leaves them with a 53-24 mark, the best of the Western Conference, with two games ahead of the Nuggets (51-26) when both teams are missing five games for playing in the regular season.
They also won 3-1 in the series between both teams that have played this season and the Warriors won the Nuggets for the eleventh time in the last 16 games, including eight of nine at Oakland’s Oracle Arena (EFE).
