For the first two-plus quarters of the Golden State Warriors‘ Tuesday night road bout with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Steve Kerr’s club looked destined to notch its first loss of the season. However, at the 6:29 mark of the third quarter, everything changed for the Dubs.
That’s when fifth-year wing Damion Lee re-entered the game.
Lee promptly knocked down a floater, then followed that up with a three-point shot on the ensuing possession. A handful of minutes later, another long-range bomb from Lee trimmed what had been a 15-point deficit to just one point.
Momentum had swayed Golden State’s way and the Warriors clearly weren’t looking back. By the end of the night, the team had locked down a 106-98 win to improve to 4-0 on the year.
While one might have expected Stephen Curry to be the instigator in the turnaround, Kerr wasn’t surprised that Lee — who scored 20 points in the game — took the reins in OKC.
Kerr on Lee: ‘Our Most Consistent Player’
When asked about Lee being the spark plug, Kerr was quick to note that the 29-year-old has quietly become a stabilizing force for his team.
“He’s just so rock solid in every way,” Kerr said after the game, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “The ball moves when he’s out there, he makes the right cut, he makes the right pass, he’s a big-time shooter and his defense has been solid. So Damion has been fantastic.”
It’s a small sample size, but Lee has played some of his best basketball through four games in 2021-22. So far, he is putting up 14.3 points and 2.3 rebounds per contest while hitting 47.1% of his triples and 91.7% of his foul shots. If you ask Kerr, though, Lee’s output is just a continuation of his camp effort.
“It’s not surprising given that he was fantastic every day of training camp,” Kerr said. “Probably our most consistent player throughout.”
When Lee was on the court on Tuesday, the Warriors outscored the Thunder by 16 points.
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Curry Makes History (Again)
While Lee was the hero against OKC, Curry still managed to make a bit of history in the game. Rather, he repeated some history he had made several years ago.
By logging 23 points, six boards and four assists in the game, Curry renewed himself as the only player in team history to put up at least 100 points, 25 rebounds and 25 assists through the Warriors’ first four games, as noted by Justin Kubatko.
Curry accomplished the same feat during the first four games of the 2014-15 season, which was the year that he captured his first NBA MVP award and the Warriors took home the Larry O’Brien trophy.
So far this season, Curry has logged 116 points, 33 rebounds and 25 assists.
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Warriors’ Kerr Not Surprised by Bench Hero’s Big Night