SAN ANTONIO -- The Warriors typically run two offenses, each of which can be distilled to its essence.
There is the beautiful offense, the ball moving and players operating in a rhythm that seems almost choreographed. When it’s flowing, which is their preference, they tend to follow Stephen Curry.
And there is the grind offense, the one in which movement ceases and the ball seems to get heavy. The one with with much more slow than flow. That’s when the Warriors hitch themselves to Kevin Durant.
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It’s a fairly simple formula. Unless, that is, you’re on the other team.
San Antonio was the other team Saturday night, and when the Warriors stopped flowing and the game slowed down in the third quarter, Durant materialized like a beacon in the night, guiding the Warriors to a 120-108 win in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals that leaves them one win away from a third consecutive trip to the NBA Finals.
Durant scored 19 points in the third quarter. Moreover, the 6-foot-9 forward fired in 16 in a row in a span of less than three minutes, personally hiking the score from 82-73 to 98-80 and putting the game out of reasonable reach of the Spurs.
“Kevin Durant had his way for a period there in transition,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich understated. “It just really spread the game open. He did a great job.”
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Under Durant’s magnificence, the defense of the Spurs, shaky most of the night, sank into utter insignificance. And he did all this work with easy determination, as if he were playing in the park.
“It's very smooth,” Stephen Curry said. “He can do it a lot of different ways. The run he had in the third was a clinic of scoring the basketball. He got in the paint. Finished around the rim. Hit a tough fadeaway, a one-footer and pick-and-roll situations a lot, being able to play-make and create his own shot.
“He really answered the bell in that moment for us. At that point it's just like anybody who gets the hot hand, just give him the ball, get out of the way and let him do what he does. His versatility, he demands a lot of attention, and it's fun to watch him get hot like that.”
And, boy, did Durant, along with David West, rock the Spurs to sleep with pick-and-roll action, which a couple times led to back-door layups for Durant.
“David would pop to the elbow and KD got double teamed, so he'd throw a little bounce pass back to D-West,” acting head coach Mike Brown explained. “And KD being 6-11, if he gets double teamed, it's easy for him to throw over the top of any double team because he's a good shooter from 15 feet in that free-throw line area.
“As soon as the ball went back to David, KD made the right basketball play because he was overplayed. He cut back door. I think he maybe got two or three backdoor lay-ups during that time with David on the floor. Just good chemistry between the two guys.”
It left the Spurs reeling. They’d fought back so valiantly not once or twice but three times slicing into double-digit deficits. The last one, however, courtesy of Durant put them away.
Durant finished with a game-high 33 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field, including 3-of-5 beyond the arc. He was 8-of-10 from the line. He added a team-best 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
“The third quarter I just went out there and played and not worried about anything,” Durant said. “Just played every possession and tried to play as hard as I can. I was able to score, because it started with my defense first.”
Well, yes, there was that. Durant’s defense was suspect for much of the game, particularly in the first half. He also was responsible for seven of the Warriors’ 21 turnovers.
“Sometimes I look to pass when I should look to score,” he said. “Sometimes I look to score when I should pass. But I figured out if I just don't think at all, that's when I'm best. So I don't really know, you know. Different game. Some games are different. Some situations are different. I may need to score 17 (actually 16) in a row.”
Durant was profoundly defective in other areas of the game, and he called himself out for it.
Given his part in the game that put the Warriors in complete control of the series, Durant may be excused for his imperfections. He was perfect when his team needed him to be, and there is no better way to ensure forgiveness.