Warriors' 'anxiety' behind NBA Spurs thrashing - Durant

Omnisports

October 26, 2016 1:49 AM

Kevin Durant says the Golden State Warriors were beset by "anxiety" before starting the NBA season with a home-court thumping at the hands of the Spurs.

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Kevin Durant says the Golden State Warriors were beset by "anxiety" before starting the NBA season with a home-court thumping at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs.

Kawhi Leonard had a game-high 35 points as the Spurs crushed the Warriors 129-100 at the Oracle Arena, as Golden State got their season under way in much less auspicious fashion than 2015-16's record-breaking 24-game winning run.

Durant's money-spinning arrival from the Oklahoma City Thunder has made the Warriors' bookies' favourites to regain their NBA crown and the seven-time All Star says Tuesday's "slap in the face" could be beneficial in the long run.

"It was the first game at home, a lot of energy in the building before the game so guys might have been a little tense but that is NBA basketball," Durant said.

"I think we kind of calmed down a bit at the start of the second half but they were already ahead and we can't wait a half to play good basketball. It is a matter of getting better and learning from it and we will be fine.

"Everybody in the first game wants to do well and you are anxious to play nicely.

"It is part of being in the NBA, I was excited to play and sometimes you can be overly excited. I had to calm down at the start of the second quarter and the game went on but other than that it was another game, game one and you can't win a championship right now so we wouldn't have celebrated if we won the game anyway.

"We have to get better and learn from this for game two at New Orleans at their place so it is a slap in the face which woke us up a bit and we look forward to getting better."

Forward Draymond Green recorded consecutive triple-doubles as the Warriors posted a record-breaking start to last season, but sees no reason to be concerned by an immediate setback this time around.

"At the end of the day it is one basketball game, whether we lost by one, 30 or 40 it is still one game," Green said.

"We know we have some things to clean up and we will lock in and clean those things up but I am not going to make more of the situation than it is or compare it to last year because it is a completely different team.

"I didn't come into the season saying we needed to try and match the record at this point of the season."

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