Eight seasons deep, and Kevon Looney is feeling better than ever.
The 26-year-old Warriors forward has become known as the resident iron man, as he has played in 142 straight regular season games. In Friday's 118-106 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, Looney came close to capturing his first career triple-double, as he scored 14 points with 11 rebounds and nine assists.
Looney joined 95.7 The Game’s “Willard and Dibs” Monday and said he hopes he can finally get a triple-double soon.
“I hope so. I got close,” Looney told hosts Mark Willard and Kyle Madson (filling in for Dan Dibley). “Maybe I can get close again. I’ve been playing really well. Best I’ve felt in my career. I expect great things out of myself, so hopefully I can get that off my bucket list.”
We’re 31 games deep into the season and every member of the Warriors – except one – has been dinged up.
Golden State is waiting for Steph Curry’s left shoulder to heal up. Andrew Wiggins (adductor strain) has been cleared for practice but has been ruled out for Tuesday’s game against the New York Knicks, meaning he’ll miss his eighth straight contest since Dec. 3. Draymond Green and Klay Thompson have each sat out respective games with their own issues. Meanwhile, Looney remains as reliable as ever, having started in all 31 games.
Looney said the Warriors have the ability to withstand losing Curry for a few weeks, as expected.
“It’s a tough task,” Looney said. “Once we get Wiggs back and we got Draymond back (Sunday) night, it made a big difference. It’s gonna be tough for us, but we have enough talent to hold the ship down til he gets back.”
Looney also discussed Jordan Poole’s 43-point explosion Sunday, in Curry’s second game away from the team since the injury. As a starter the past eight games, Poole is averaging 26.3 points per contest.
“(Poole) kinda knows what time it is,” Looney said. “We all talk amongst each other how everybody has to step up . Steph has big shoes to fill. No one guy can fill his spot. We all gotta do a group effort. But he knows when Steph is out, he has to take more lead, gotta control the game more and be more poised. I think he’s been doing a great job of that the past few games.”
The Warriors are 1-3 on their current road trip that will wrap up with a back-to-back against the New York Knicks (Tuesday) and Brooklyn Nets (Wednesday). Golden State (15-16) is currently the No. 11 seed in the West, but just five games behind the first-place Memphis Grizzlies (19-10) in the bunched-up conference playoff race.
“We’re not looking toward the playoffs, we’re trying to win, get better right now,” Looney said. “I know we have a high ceiling, but we’re not playing all the way to our potential. We just gotta continue to build good habits. We feel like if we keep building the right habits and keep playing the right way, things will take care of themselves. We’ve proved that we can play with some of the best teams and we can beat the best teams in the league right now, but we have also shown that we can lose on any given night.”
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