SAN FRANCISCO -- Two weeks after limping home licking their wounds and 10 days after absorbing the worst loss of the season, the Warriors are soaring again.
After concluding a seven-game homestand Saturday with a 110-106 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, the Warriors own a five-game win streak and reached the 50-game mark with a 37-13 record superior to every NBA team except the Phoenix Suns.
After a stretch during which the Warriors lost six of nine games, the last of which was humiliating defeat at the hands of an Indiana Pacers team missing its top four players, life by The Bay is good again.
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SIGN UP HERE The latest victory was unique insofar as both Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson sputtered for 43 minutes – before combining to score the last 17 points over the last five. Up to that point, the Splash Brothers were carried by their teammates, particularly Andrew Wiggins, who scored a team-high 24 points and was as spectacular on defense as offense.
“It shows the depth that we have on our team,” said Jordan Poole, who contributed 17 points and six assists in 28 minutes. “You come out and close the game against a really good team and having guys stepping up night in and night out. Just a testament to how talented we are. Just got to keep working.”
While Curry and Thompson were combining for 35 points on 10-of-32 shooting (5-of-18 from deep), Wiggins was fabulous, as was Otto Porter Jr., with 16 points, six rebounds and four blocks. Poole had a third consecutive productive game off the bench.
“Strength in numbers, it is still alive and well,” said Thompson, whose 3-pointer with 12.5 seconds remaining, followed by two free throws with 5.7 seconds left, sealed the win. “I was telling Steph about that. We had a subpar shooting night and to see these guys go in and play so well and move the ball, be aggressive, that gives us life.”
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The most impressive thing about this win streak is that it was accomplished mostly on the back of a defense that was without Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, both of whom is a craftsman on that end of the floor.
Golden State over the last five games ranks fifth in defensive rating (105.2) and maintained its status as the team with the No. 1 defensive rating (102.7) this season.
“It's different without having our anchors out there,” Poole said. “But we’ve been preaching our defense all year, being a really good defensive team, and it's something that we focus on. I wouldn’t say that I'm surprised, but it's pretty awesome just to see that even without our two best defenders we’re still able to go out there and compete every single night on that end.”
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Three of the last five opponents were held to less than 40-percent shooting from the field and three were limited to less than 30 percent beyond the arc. It’s not that the Warriors don’t miss Draymond and Andre; it’s that they don’t miss them as much as was feared.
“Obviously, without both those guys were missing so much defensively,” coach Steve Kerr said. “But (assistant coach/defensive coordinator) Mike Brown has done a great job this year with the defense and we've added some guys who are excellent defenders.”
Meanwhile, the offense, which experienced a dramatic dip during that 3-6 stretch, again looks lively and effective. The Warriors, 29th in offensive rating (103.3) over those nine games, are fifth (116.6) over the last five – despite Curry’s ongoing struggle to rediscover his signature 3-point shot.
Some of the rise can be traced to the efficiency of Wiggins (47.3 percent from the field, 40.6 from distance), Porter (a fantastic 59.5 and 45.0) and Poole (49.2 and 45.2). They have filled most of the scoring void created by Curry’s mostly cold shooting.
Another factor is this: Back on the court for three weeks, Thompson now looks very much like the pre-injury Klay. Before his 5-of-14 shooting Saturday, he was 15 of his last 28 overall, including 8-of-17 beyond the arc.
“I’m figuring out how to play well with these guys and vice versa,” he said. “It is hard to simulate that when you are on the sideline watching. To get some game time under our belt and rally off some home wins has been awesome.”
As the Warriors leave Sunday for a quick trip to Texas, with games at Houston and San Antonio on successive nights Monday and Tuesday, they have to like where they are and, with key players still sidelined, feel confident they can get even better over the final 32 games of the season.