NBABy Matt Clapp on

The Golden State Warriors got their 14th consecutive win with a 123-101 throttling of the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night at Oracle Arena.

And the scary thing is that Saturday was the only time over the winning streak that the Warriors actually had Kevin Durant (but they were without Steph Curry, who got the night off).

Durant made his long-awaited return to the court after a 19-game absence that was caused by a sprained MCL suffered in late February, and it didn’t take long for the superstar forward to make an “I’m back” statement:

https://youtu.be/yBGYED5HZlc

Durant filled up the box score with 16 points (6-15 on FG, 4-4 on FT), 10 rebounds, and six assists. Full highlights:

The most impressive number to take away from Durant’s return is 31, the amount of minutes he played. And he told the media after the game that he could’ve played more:

Durant’s jumper understandably looked a bit rusty early on (and he went 0-4 on threes), but it looked better in the second half as Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told the media:

It was assumed when the injury occurred that Durant wouldn’t even return for the regular season, and maybe not even for the first round of the playoffs. So the fact that he was able to play in a regular season game, and immediately play well over 31 minutes, is tremendous news for the Warriors.

And it’s very bad news for teams — namely the Spurs and Cavs — hoping to give the Warriors a serious run in the playoffs.

Golden State (66-14) had already been playing the best basketball in the NBA in recent weeks, and clinched the No. 1 overall seed in the playoffs (so the playoffs will go through Oracle Arena).

Now, they add one of the five best players in the NBA to that team? That’s really not fair. It’s safe to say that the Warriors will enter the playoffs as the clear favorites to win the title.

[Photo Credit: NBC Sports Bay Area]

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor at The Comeback. He attended Colorado State University, wishes he was Saved by the Bell's Zack Morris, and idolizes Larry David. And loves pizza and dogs because obviously.

He can be followed on Twitter at @Matt2Clapp (also @TheBlogfines for Cubs/MLB tweets and @DaBearNecess for Bears/NFL tweets), and can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.

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