Kelly Oubre shook off the “noise” and delivered a career-high 40 points in the Warriors’ 147-116 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night.
Bradley Beal, who was a teammate of Oubre’s with the Washington Wizards from 2015-18, shared his excitement for Oubre’s first 40-point NBA game on social media.
Former Warrior Nick Young also shouted out Oubre for the big night, hoping all those who have been criticizing the forward will keep the same energy.
Oubre got off to a historically bad start offensively with the Warriors, especially from 3-point land. He was shooting just 23.1 percent from behind the arc on five attempts per game going into Thursday night’s game.
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The 25-year-old knocked down seven of his 10 shots from downtown, looking completely in control offensively and owning the Mavericks. Coach Steve Kerr said after the victory that he and the Warriors knew Oubre was capable of this, and were excited to see it manifest in Dallas.
“I think this has been coming,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr told the media in a postgame Zoom conference. “Obviously, for Kelly, it’s been a rough first quarter of the season. And yet, within that span, he’s had some excellent games for us. He’s played very well at times, he’s just had some really poor shooting nights during that span that people have locked in on. But Kelly is getting more comfortable. Guys in the locker room love him and want to help him continue to get comfortable. This was obviously a great night for him.”
Oubre also joined an exclusive club, becoming the fifth Warrior to score 40 or more points under Kerr, joining Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and D’Angelo Russell.
An outburst like that can’t be expected from Oubre on a nightly basis, but the performance could be a turning point for the forward and his confidence offensively moving forward.
The Mavericks certainly will have some adjustments ready for defending Oubre when the two teams once again face off on Saturday night.
