Golden State Warriors Streaking to League of Their Own in Crowded West
The Golden State Warriors tied a franchise record with their 11th straight win, this time a 112-85 clinic against the up-and-coming New Orleans Pelicans.
It was a lopsided microcosm of this team's young season at large. Coming off a solid 51-win campaign, the Warriors are playing like legitimate contenders these days—and handling outfits like the Pelicans in short order.
"This is the best game we played in a long time," head coach Steve Kerr told reporters after the game.
Tallying 31 assists and just nine turnovers will elicit those kind of sentiments. But Kerr and Co. have more than one game on which to hang their hats.
After the Memphis Grizzlies fell to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, Golden State now remains the only team in the NBA with just two losses, sitting atop league standings with a 16-2 record that may well be a harbinger of postseason success to come.
That record—and the streak that keeps on making it look better—is only the tip of the iceberg, though.
By the numbers, the Warriors are absolutely dominating their competition. Coming into Thursday night's contest, their average plus-10 point differential tied the Toronto Raptors as the league's best. According to Hollinger Stats, Golden State ranks seventh in offensive efficiency (with 106.7 points per 100 possessions) and first in defensive efficiency (allowing just 95.4 points per 100 possessions).
It's the kind of two-way supremacy that sets Kerr's club apart from the defensively minded Grizzlies or explosive Los Angeles Clippers.
The Warriors do it all, and they do it very well.
And no, you don't have to be a Grizzlies hater to admit it.
Results aside, no team is working with a more well-rounded collection of personnel.
Attention has justifiably focused on Klay Thompson and November Western Conference Player of the Month Stephen Curry, but this team's success is very much owed to collective efforts that take full advantage of Andrew Bogut's interior defense and Draymond Green's inside-outside versatility.
They're even getting 31.2 points per game off a bench getting strong contributions from Andre Iguodala, Marreese Speights and Shaun Livingston, per HoopsStats.com.
The supporting cast's willingness to do the little things has made this team a force on both ends of the floor, in much the same way last season's San Antonio Spurs marched to a title with an ensemble mastery of their offensive and defensive systems alike.
Those Spurs have accounted for one of Golden State's losses, and the ever-dangerous Phoenix Suns were responsible for the other.
It's been smooth, undefeated sailing ever since.
That doesn't mean this club has achieved perfection just yet. It snuck past the Orlando Magic by a 98-97 margin for that 10th consecutive win, taking advantage of Curry's go-ahead three-pointer that fell with just 2.2 seconds remaining in regulation.
And 10 of the Warriors' last 11 victories have come against sub-.500 teams, so there's little doubt more revealing tests await.
The good news is that this squad appears to have what it takes to meet those challenges head on. Even when one puts the numbers in context of the opposition's strength (or lack thereof), all the intangibles are there, too, as Bogut recently described to reporters:
"We're enjoying ourselves. We have good guys in the locker room. We don't have any prima donnas. We don't have any guys who are about themselves, so that makes life a lot easier.
First team I've been on in a while where we actually have guys, we land in cities, we get together, and go and eat. I've been on teams where, plane lands, people are like [imitates sound of a wind gust].
"
It's an encouraging sign from a group of guys who were reeling over former coach Mark Jackson's ousting not long ago. Talented as the Warriors are on paper, it's their chemistry and connectivity that could keep a good thing going.
"As a staff, we try to keep it light and loose while getting our work in, but it's easy to have fun when you have great guys," Kerr added. "Our guys are awesome. They're coachable. They have senses of humor. They enjoy being around each other."
And apparently, they also like winning.
Inimitable though it may be, their formula is simple enough. Curry and Thompson combined for 42 points and 16 assists against the Pelicans. Green and third-year forward Harrison Barnes combined for another 31. After a second-quarter defensive effort that held New Orleans to just 12 points, the Warriors' variety of weapons were just too much to overcome.
Even for Anthony Davis and his 30 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.
Golden State will get one more weapon with whom to work when power forward David Lee returns from a hamstring injury sometime next week.
"We need him," Kerr told reporters after Thursday's contest. "We'll find ways to play him. It may mean a few less minutes for Harrison or Draymond. We'll figure it out."
And they'll likely take another step past teams like Memphis in the process. A two-time All-Star, Lee averaged 18.2 points and 9.3 rebounds a season ago. He'll instantly upgrade a front line that's fairly small at the moment outside of Bogut.
The Grizzlies and Clippers don't have reinforcements of that caliber on the horizon. Nor do the healthy Portland Trail Blazers or Dallas Mavericks. Among the West's would-be contenders, only the Houston Rockets—who've shouldered injuries to Dwight Howard, Patrick Beverley and Terrence Jones—can expect significant help in the near term.
Increasingly, the Warriors seem to be doing just fine without the help. Thursday's nine turnovers may be indicative of an important turnaround for a team that struggled to value possessions earlier in the season. No team is hitting its stride quite like Golden State at the moment.
These Warriors are in sync and unafraid—and the rest of the Western Conference may not be able to do anything about it.
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