Durant shows 'scary' form in return from injury

NEW YORK • Kevin Durant's smooth-as-silk National Basketball Association (NBA) return is "kind of scary for the rest of the league", Steve Kerr, his former coach at the Golden State Warriors, said.

Kerr, who managed Durant during two championship runs with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018, had a courtside seat as the forward played his first game on Tuesday since June last year because of a torn Achilles tendon.

The All-Star forward departed for Brooklyn as a free agent last year. By the time he finally suited up for the Nets in the opening game of this season, it had been 561 days since his last competitive outing.

But Durant, 32, looked like he had never been away, meshing effortlessly with fellow Nets star Kyrie Irving, himself playing his first game since February due to shoulder surgery.

The Warriors were blown away 125-99, with four-time NBA scoring champion Durant showing flashes of fire. He finished with 22 points in just under 25 minutes, connecting on seven of 16 shots from the floor and draining all seven of his free throws, while Irving had a game-high 26 points.

Such was the Nets' dominance that their rookie coach Steve Nash, a two-time Most Valuable Player, could not have wished for an easier introduction in his first game in the hot seat.

Durant and Irving, along with the rest of their starters, all sat out the fourth quarter with the game well in hand, leading Kerr to declare his former star as good as new.

"I couldn't tell one difference between seeing him 18 months ago to seeing him (now)," he said.

On his first meeting with the Warriors since leaving them, Durant insisted there was no added incentive to the clash and he warmly embraced Warriors star Stephen Curry, who paced his team with 20 points, before the game.

"No emotions at all," he said. "It's good to see old friends, old teammates. But I wouldn't say there was any emotion. I think guys came out here and played extremely hard and competed and put on a good show for opening night."

With Durant and Irving on the court, experts and fans believe the Nets, who have never won the championship, are contenders for the Los Angeles Lakers' crown.

But Nash does not want to pile the pressure of expectations on the pair, particularly as Durant is coming back from one of the worst injuries a basketball player can suffer.

"That's true and fair," the former Phoenix Suns star said. "He's done everything and he is in absolutely the ultimate position to come back from this injury.

"But we also have to give Kevin time to play NBA games and not get carried away.

"He looks amazing, he's playing amazing, but I want to just give him breathing room and not put on too much pressure after not playing competitive basketball for 18 months."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE