That’s 14 straight. Yes, 14 straight.
After defeating the Houston Rockets in Oracle last night, the Golden State Warriors extended their win streak to an eye-popping 14 games. Steve Kerr and his troops are in the midst of an absolute tear. Even when they do not play particularly well for three quarters, they’ve been able to dominate the final period in order to piece together a victory, something only the best forces in the league are competent of executing.
Andrew Bogut was not able to suit up last night after suffering a minor knee injury in a collision against Minnesota on Monday night; however, the Warriors managed to scrap out a win with productive play from Draymond Green and Marreese Speights at the center spot. Bogut’s presence in the paint, particularly on the defensive side, was surely missed, but without the Rockets’ star center Dwight Howard, and with how well Green and Speights have been playing, they were able to protect their home floor.
The chief reason to the Warriors’ astonishing success has been the implementation of Kerr’s offensive system, where everyone in the rotation seems to have found a role and is impacting the game in one way or another. Harrison Barnes, who regressed away from his potential last season, is evidently more comfortable and confident as a starter, for his statistics are noticeably improved in virtually every category. He’s tacked on three more points on average, sitting at nearly 12 points a contest, and shooting an incredibly efficient 53 percent from the floor which is 14 percent superior from a year ago. Moreover, he was terrific yet again in last night’s performance, with 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting with seven boards and a couple of steals in a game high 39 minutes, eclipsing his average of 31 per game.
Ultimately, the difference in the game was the Warriors’ ability to connect on 49% of their shots compared to the Rockets’ 41%. James Harden had a marvelous game, scoring a game-high 34 points on 28 attempts, but without Howard, Harden simply did not get enough production from his supporting cast to defeat the red-hot Warriors. Patrick Beverley and Trevor Ariza combined for 30 points, but credit the Warriors defense for forcing to 10-29 shooting from the field. Golden State’s defense picked up precisely where they started throughout the totality of last season, playing extremely tough, pesky defense, and limiting oppositions to substandard percentages from the field.
Neither team shot the ball well from long distance; the difference was Golden State’s ability to penetrate and take higher percentage attempts. The Splash Brothers combined for 41 points on 16-of-33 shooting and many of their shots came on the fast-break or off of penetration, utilizing the painted area without the presence of Howard.
Shaun Livingston turned out to be a wonderful acquisition for the Dubs, for he’s been just as advertised. His size and length at the point guard position creates constant mismatches, especially on the defensive side of the ball where he has the ability to move his feet tremendously well and use his size to his advantage. His facilitation and ball-handling skills on the offensive end have helped propel the second unit to coalesce and play cohesively. He had a terrific stat-line last night, posting eight points, a couple blocks, four assists, and a three rebounds, as well as his defensive firepower along the perimeter.
Green’s versatility on both sides of the ball has been strikingly impressive. His proven ability to step out and shoot the three ball has stretched the floor for the Warriors even more so than they envisioned, and his mastery to defend the three through the five spots on defense has been mammoth to defensive success. Speights has been a phenomenal weapon off the bench and he continued his early season dominance with 15 points and eight rebounds in merely 19 minutes.
Without the big Aussie controlling the paint, the Warriors did what they’ve been able to do all season, and that is merely finding ways to scrap out a win even when they are playing down to their opponents level through most of regulation. Everyone in the rotation has contributed to the Warriors’ 19-2 commencement of the season and I expect them to continue their high-level of play.