Durant Praises Coach Kerr's Handling Of Stephen Curry, Ready For The Rockets

Kevin Durant praised Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr for his handling of Stephen Curry during the Western Conference playoff semi-finals against the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Warriors wrapped up the best of seven series 4-1 with a 113-104 win in Game 5 and Curry top scored after playing 37 minutes. The point guard played a crucial role in helping them make a fourth straight Western Conference final.

Curry returned, after almost six weeks on the sidelines with a knee injury in Game 2, against the Pelicans and was used sparingly by coach Kerr in the initial games. He played 27 minutes on his return when he came off the bench, and the coach revealed the precaution was due to his conditioning and not because of the knee injury.

The Warriors guard has since started all the games and said after Game 4 that he was slowly but surely getting his timing back. Durant was impressed with Kerr’s handling of Curry before he was unleashed for 37 minutes in Game 5 when they wrapped up the series against the Pelicans.

"I think Coach did a great job though of just giving him a little bit here and there and really just letting him go [in Game 5]," Durant said, as quoted on Sporting News. "You see when you let the dog off the leash what happens."

Durant also spoke about the tough challenge the Houston Rockets will present during the Western Conference Finals. The Warriors facing the Rockets has been a match up that has been spoken off on numerous occasions during the regular season and it has come to fruition after the top two seeds in the West made it to the finals after their 4-1 victories over the Pelicans and Utah Jazz respectively.

The Warriors forward admits they will have to adapt their style of play to tackle the James Harden led team, who like to shoot a lot of three pointers while keeping the game at a high pace. But Durant is confident that the reigning champions seeking their fourth straight NBA finals appearance have a team versatile enough to adapt to the challenges posed by the Rockets.

“We’ve been hearing about that match-up all year,” Durant told NBC Sports on Tuesday. “We’ve just been trying to get better as a team each and every game.”

“They present a tough challenge for us and I think playing against New Orleans has kind of prepare us a little bit for it. We’re looking forward to an opportunity to play this game deep in the season, it’s a joy and a pleasure. We want to take advantage of it," he added.

“The league is changing and you’ve got to play different match-ups and styles. Teams like to shoot a lot of threes and get up and down the floor,” he said. “It throws a lot of these groups off, but for us, we’ve got a versatile group that can play different ways.”

“In the first series, we played a slow game against San Antonio then we sped it up this series [against the Pelicans],” Durant said. “We’re going to have to do the same things in the Western Conference finals. We’re looking forward to it, it’s a great opportunity and we’ll see what happens.”