The Greatest Show In Basketball Is Back

As the saying goes, “The NBA doesn’t begin until Christmas Day.” 

The Warriors and Nets proved otherwise Tuesday night.

In the first marquee matchup of the 2021-2022 regular season, the 11-2 Golden State Warriors traveled to Brooklyn to play the 10-4 Nets, in a matchup of superstars and early-season MVP favorites. 

It’s been nearly three years since Kevin Durant left The Bay Area, wanting to get away from the shadow of Steph Curry, a shadow that never was going to go away as long as Curry remained in Golden State. Much has been said about his departure, with a few petty shots taken along the way. Durant’s relationship with Curry, Draymond Green, and head coach Steve Kerr has been dissected in a number of ways. 

Ultimately, it was simply the case of an all-time great wanting to prove that he could win a championship without the help of potentially the greatest collection of talent the league has ever seen. 

Since his departure, Brooklyn has seemingly had the upper hand — coming within the length of Durant’s big toe of making the Eastern Conference Finals in June — while Golden State has floundered through injuries and the inevitable dip that was always to come after years of tearing through the league. 

Now? Both Durant’s and Curry’s teams are front and center, potentially on a collision course with the destination being the NBA Finals in June. 

Tuesday night in Brooklyn, Curry came out on top, continuing his smoking hot start to the season in a 117-99 Golden State rout. Curry had 19 in the first half, going 5-8 from beyond the arc, starting the game a perfect 4-4 from three. The four most exciting words in sports, “Steph is going off,” are once again backed by a competitive Warriors team. Chants of “MVP” could be heard at Barclays Center as Curry caught fire, ending the night with 37 points on 9-14 shooting from three.

“Yeah, the way the crowd energizes when Steph starts rising up from 30 feet — it’s everywhere,” Kerr said. “It happened in Charlotte the other night. It happened tonight. So I think the fact that our team is good again and is playing well and has a good record adds to what Steph brings to the table every night, in terms of his skill and showmanship. And so that stuff — when you’re winning and you get the incredible display of skill from Steph, people are

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