After five straight appearances in the NBA Finals, where they won three of their four titles in their history, the Golden State Warriors because of injuries to key personnel missed the playoffs entirely in the spring of 2020 and just missed the postseason last spring despite a spectacular season by their two-time Kia MVP. Behind their aforementioned Kia MVP, the return to form of their Swiss army knife fellow All-Star, and an improved supporting cast, the Warriors have gotten off to a stellar start to the 2021-22 NBA campaign and have the look of the squads that took of those title teams the previous decade.
Following their 127-113 win on Monday night
versus the Atlanta Hawks (4-7), the Golden State Warriors won their fifth
straight contest, to improve to a Western Conference best 9-1 on the season.
The Warriors during their winning streak
have won each game by 10-plus points, while registering 30-plus assists. In
their last three games, the Warriors have scored 120-plus points as they
registered a 9-1 mark to start an NBA season for the fourth time in franchise
history.
Headlining the Warriors stellar start is
two-time Kia MVP and perennial All-Star Stephen Curry, who once again made
history registering 50 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds, and three steals
versus the Hawks on Monday night going 14/28 from the field, including 9/19
from three-point range and 13/132 at the foul line.
It was Curry’s first career game with 50
points and 10 assists. He registered his 10th career game with 50
points, including his 4th such game after his 32nd
birthday. He made at least nine triples in a game for the 35th time
in his career, the most in NBA history.
“You never come out with like a certain
number in mind,” Curry, who scored 24 of his 50 points in the opening half on
5/8 from three-point range said after the game. “It’s just when you get it going,
you just keep going.”
Curry kept his hot streak going scoring 18
of his 26 second half points in the third quarter saying after the game how you
“carry that moment” into the half and you come out to start the second half is
when you brace for the “avalanche” to fall, which it did for him and his team.
To put what Curry did in perspective on Monday
night, his 35 career games making at least nine three-pointers in his career is
about four times than the next closest players in 2018 Kia MVP and fellow perennial
All-Star in James Harden and fellow perennial All-Star lead guard Damian Lillard
of the Portland Trail Blazers with nine such games.
Curry, 33 became the oldest player in NBA history to register 50 points and 10 assists in a game in NBA history.
Oldest Players With 50 Points and 10 Assists
In NBA History
Stephen Curry (GSW): Age 33
Wilt Chamberlin: Age 31
Damian Lillard (POR): Age 30
“You know I want to say I’ve never seen
anything like it. But I’ve been watching it for seven years,” Warriors head
coach Steve Kerr said of another out of body performance by Curry in his
postgame presser. “It’s just incredible to watch.”
As impressive as Curry, whose averaging
27.6 points, 6.6 assists, 6.6 rebounds, 1.6 steals per game so far this season
has been, the Warriors are back to being a serious title contender because the
Warriors other All-Star in Draymond Green is playing at the all-around level
that he was during those championship seasons from 2014-19. Also, the
supporting cast around him are staring in their roles just like the supporting
cast of those three title teams from the past decade.
When the Warriors were at their championship
best for five consecutive seasons, Draymond Green, the 2017 Kia Defensive
Player of the Year put his fingerprints all over the game with his ability to
rebound, run the offense from the forward position and be an absolute dynamo at
the defensive end.
So far this season, Green has registered
at least six assists in the team’s first 10 games, with a season-best so far of
12 assists in the Warriors lone loss so far this season (104-101) versus the
Memphis Grizzlies (6-4) in overtime on Oct. 28. The 2015-16 All-NBA Second Team
and 2016-17 All-NBA Third Team selection nearly had his 31st career
triple-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists in the Warriors
103-82 victory versus the Oklahoma City Thunder (3-6) two nights later that ignited
the team’s five-game winning streak.
While the three-time All-Star is not the scorer
like Curry, he bring the emotion and high energy attitude that has made the
Warriors go when they were at the top of the NBA mountain in 2015, 2017, and
2018.
During those aforementioned championship
seasons, the Warriors mantra has been strength in numbers in reference to their
very deep roster that consisted of the likes of 2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala,
Andrew Bogut, Shaun Livingston, Leandro Barbosa, Kevon Looney, Patrick McCaw,
Matt Barnes, and current Sacramento Kings’ forward Harrison Barnes.
While the Warriors have not reached the
postseason over the last two seasons, one thing that they have been able to do
is rebuild that depth and they struck gold through the draft, free agency, and trades with the likes of
Jordan Poole, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Curry’s brother-in-law Damion Lee, and 2015
Kia Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins, who they acquired from the Minnesota
Timberwolves at the Feb. 6, 2020 trade deadline.
This off-season, the Warriors brought back
Iguodala in free agency as well as Otto Porter, Jr., Nemanja Bjelica, and Gary
Payton II as well as added through the 2021 NBA Draft Jonathan Kuminga and
Moses Moody.
In the Warriors 120-107 win on Sunday
night versus the Houston Rockets (1-9), the supporting cast was front and center
as Poole led the way with 25 points and five assists, going 7/13 from the field
and 9/9 at the foul line. Wiggins had 16 points, going 7/8 at the charity stripe,
while Porter, Jr. had 15 points and nine boards on 5/7 from three-point range
off the bench. Payton II added 10 points and four steals off the pine.
Undrafted in 2016 and going back-and-fourth
playing in the NBA’s G League as well as stops with the Milwaukee Bucks, Los
Angeles Lakers, and Washington Wizards, Payton II, the son of Hall of Famer
Gary Payton has made a serious impact for the Warriors, especially at the
defensive end.
In the Warriors blowout victory (126-85)
versus the New Orleans Hornets (1-10) last Friday night, Payton II, who like
his father went to Oregon State University had 17 points and seven boards off
the bench on 7/10 shooting.
“He’s really a weapon,” Coach Kerr said of
Payton after the game. “He is really a dynamic player, and I think the fit with
this year’s team is good because he’s got shooting around him. We can almost
invert the offense. Now Gary can become the drive man, and then we’ve got our
big guys—Beli (Bjelica) and Otto (Porter, Jr.)-out at the three-point line. It’s
an interesting, different kind of look.”
The play of Payton II and the rest of the
supporting cast has allowed Curry to dominate the opposing defenses with his
incredible shot making, especially from three-point range, which also brings energy
to not just his teammates but the fans in attendance at Chase Center.
“You know, when he’s going, we know it. Dub
nation knows it and when he’s open feed him,” Payton II said after the win on
Monday night.
ESPN studio analyst and Celtics studio
analyst for NBC Sports Boston Kendrick Perkins, who won a title with the boys
from “Beantown” in 2008 tweeted after the Warriors latest win @Kendrick Perkins
early Tuesday morning, “Steph gave the Hawks that work tonight dropping 50-piece
wing dinner lemon pepper style!!! That dude is dame KILLER. Golden State are
letting their play tell us exactly what they are trying to accomplish and that’s
bring another Championship back to the Bay. Carry on…”
Perkins also said that while Curry
dropping 50 points is not breaking news, him playmaking for his teammates at
the level he is, rebounding the ball at a high clip and defending at a
prominent level so far this season is.
Speaking of playing consistent defense, when the Warriors were winning titles as mentioned the last decade, they were one of the most balanced teams on both ends of the floor. Over the past two seasons, the Warriors were one of the worst defensive teams in terms of rating.
Warriors Ranks The Last Eight Seasons
Offensive Rating Defensive Rating
2014-15 2nd 1st
2015-16 1st 6th
2016-17 1st 2nd
2017-18 3rd 11th
2018-19 1st 11th
2019-20 30th 26th
2020-21 20th 5th
Warriors in the early part of this season
are No. 5 in offensive efficiency and the No. 1 defensive efficiency in “The
Association.”
That high offensive rating is due in large
part of the Warriors ability to have consistent man movement and ball movement
and leading the way for them is Curry who superior shooting opens up driving
lanes and when Green is operating at the top of the circle with the ball his high
IQ and court awareness allows him to find his teammates open because of the consistent
movement off the ball.
They bring that same movement at the defensive
end where all five players are on a string to where they see the ball, they
will funnel to the ball it whether it is trapping a man with the ball on
baseline with their active hands. Keeping the ball in front of them on drives
from the elbows and boxes in the half court. That is how they get deflections
and force turnovers which had led to transition baskets.
“This
season’s been amazing the start we’ve been on,” Curry said to NBC Sports Bay
Area’s Bob Fitzgerald and Kelenna Azubuike after the win versus the Hawks. “Obviously,
we’re winning. We’re building our chemistry and expectation what it takes to
win every night. When we’re winning and ever body is involved, it’s an amazing
brand of basketball.”
What makes the Warriors even scarier is the fact they are doing this without All-Star Klay Thompson, whose missed 137 games in the total the last two seasons because of injury (torn ACL left knee and ruptured right Achilles) and James Wiseman, No. 2 overall pick in 2020 draft, who missed the final 21 games of 2020-21 with a torn meniscus in his right knee.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst mentioned on
Tuesday’s edition of “NBA Today” that there have been whispers from around the
league that Thompson has looked really good in his recovery workouts before
Warriors games and that there is “a real confidence” that when he does come
back that Thompson will be back to being that great two-way player he was
before going down first with the torn ACL in Game 6 of the 2019 Finals versus
the eventual NBA champion Toronto Raptors, which happened 881 days ago.
To put into context how great the Warriors
have been with the “Splash Brothers” on the court, they have gone 290-57 when
Curry and Thompson have played and just 53-36 with only Curry with just Curry
since 2014-15 season.
In an interview with ESPN’s Ryan Ruocco
and former Warriors head coach Mark Jackson in the Warriors’ previously mentioned
win versus the Pelicans, Thompson said while working out on a stationary bike
that he is “feeling great” and is working every day, now doing three-on-three
workouts as he tries to get back into “tip-top” game shape.
“I think of playing with Steph, Andre, and
Draymond, and Looney obviously because we have so much good history together
and integrating all our new guys and seeing them get off to such a great start
this year inspires me everyday in the weight room,” Thompson said when asked by
Jackson about how good he feels the Warriors can be when he returns.
Thompson added about what he really missed
about not playing the last two seasons to Ruocco and Jackson is the high-level
of “winning” the Warriors did from 2014-19. “Playing” in front of “dub nation.”
Also, just being able to play basketball.
“I really love what I do. I always have
since I was a kid,” Thompson said. “I think these last two years have given me
a great sense of appreciation for the work it takes to be great and my story
still being written. So, I’m not satisfied with where my career is at. I still
have many more chapters to write.”
When the NBA announced its Top 75 players
in celebration of the league’s diamond anniversary season, Thompson, who has a
career resume of five All-Star selections, two All-NBA Third Team selections;
and an NBA All-Defensive Team selection in 2019 to go along with helping the
Warriors win three titles did not make that exclusive list is something that
motivates him as well as not making any of the All-NBA in his last healthy
season of 2019.
“I voiced my frustration. Now it’s time for
me to get back on the court and prove them why I should be on that list,”
Thompson said. “Honestly, I think that was meant to happen. I needed that fuel
for the fire. I needed that motivation to come back and be one of the best in
the world again.”
Thompson was also complimentary of Payton
II saying of his performance of 14 points, five boards and three steals off the
bench in the Warriors 114-92 win versus the Charlotte Hornets last Wednesday
night on ESPN was a “culmination” of the grind he had four five seasons to earn
a secure spot in the league displaying his unbelievable athleticism on both
ends of the floor which Thompson called “incredible.”
“His defense is a lot like his pops,”
Thompson said of Payton II. “He doesn’t let anybody breathe, and that’s what we
need off the bench.”
Thompson also gave credit on national
television to his former coach in Jackson for dubbing him and Curry the greatest
shooting duo of all-time.
The Golden State Warriors went from being
the top dogs of the NBA for five straight seasons to being at the bottom the
league’s mountain in 2019-20 and just missing the playoffs after going 0-2 in
the inaugural Play-In Tournament in 2020-21. They have come out like gangbusters
to start this season led by Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.
They return of Andre Iguodala. The emergence
of Jordan Poole, Damion Lee, and Juan Toscano-Anderson. The steadiness of
Andrew Wiggins and the additions of Otto Porter, Jr., Gary Payton II, and Nemanja
Bjelica has provided the Warriors the depth that could be back competing for
another title this spring. With the eventual return of Klay Thompson and James
Wiseman to the lineup, those dreams of the Warriors bringing title No. 5 to the
California’s Bay Area are extremely high.
"It's a long journey. We understand that," Curry who had 19 points on 5/13 from three-point range in the win versus the Pelicans said to ESPN's Mark Jones and Mark Jackson postgame. "We love the fact that we've gotten off to a great start."
"You've got to find, you know, that balance of enjoying what we're doing right now. Enjoying the progress. But staying humble and understanding that we've got a lot of room to grow."
"I think we've had a long two years trying to elevate and get back to this caliber of basketball. But we understand we haven't done anything yet. So, we have to, you know, stay true to the program...We're excited. Obviously, to have Klay, you know, on his way back after two years. Wise [James Wiseman] hopefully can have a healthy run of playing games and showing what he's about. So, a lot of room to grow even though we've gotten off to a great start."
Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 11/5/2021 10 p.m. “New Orleans Pelicans versus Golden State Warriors” ESPN, presented by State Farm With Ryan Ruocco and Mark Jackson; 11/6/2021 1 a.m. NBATV's "Gametime," presented by State Farm With Chris Miles, Steve Smith, and Sam Mitchell; 11/9/2021 2 a.m. NBATV’s “Gametime,” presented by Kia With Kristen Ledlow, Candace Parker, and Isiah Thomas; 11/9/2021 3 p.m. “NBA Today” ESPN with Malika Andrews, Kendrick Perkins, Richard Jefferson, Brian Windhorst, and Zach Lowe; https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/trp_dbl_career.html; https://www.espn.com/standings; https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/3975/stephen-curry; https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/6589/draymond-green; https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3134903/gary-payton-ii; https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameid=401359941; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021-22_Golden_State_Warriors_season; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draymond_Green; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Payton_II.
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