Golden State Warriors: Splash Brothers Get Revenge
By Paul Matli
The Golden State Warriors, led by the Splash Brothers, finally played a complete game in their dominant victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were as good as they’ve ever been Friday night. They combined for 71 points and got revenge on Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum for last month’s 32 point defeat.
The Golden State Warriors as a team were just as good. They ran over the Blazers to the tune of 81 first half points, which included 12 combined threes from Curry and Thompson. The Warriors remember teams who beat them. The Warriors got revenge on the Milwaukee Bucks, Dallas Mavericks and now the Blazers.
With the victory the Warriors extended their record home winning streak to 47 games and 29-0 at home this season. The Warriors kept themselves on pace to break the Chicago Bulls 72-10 mark. The Warriors are now 58-6 with a game against the Phoenix Suns Saturday night.
Back to the Splash Brothers. They set the tone in the first quarter, combining for 32 points. Curry went right at Lillard and roasted him for 18 first quarter points. Thompson did the same with McCollum. When the Splash Brothers shoot the way they did on Friday night, no one will beat the Warriors.
It was expected that Curry would have a great game for the simple fact that he played terribly against the Utah Jazz. He didn’t play terrible, he had 10 assists, he just didn’t shoot the ball well. Great shooters like Curry don’t have back to back bad shooting games. It doesn’t happen, it never will happen. The Blazers knew what they were in for, and they got blitzed.
The Warriors seem to be returning to form. They weren’t playing like themselves ever since the All Star Break.
This was exemplified by Draymond Green’s half-time outburst against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Green’s comments after the Lakers loss. Green was critical of the Warriors offense not just after the Lakers game, but since the All Star break. He said the Warriors offense is terrible. Warriors coach Steve Kerr made some recent comments as well, saying that Curry was carrying them.
Those who watch the Warriors every game, would agree with those sentiments. Warriors reporter Ethan Strauss agreed that the Warriors hadn’t played a complete game since the All Star Break. This was before the Utah and Portland games, of course.
What makes the Warriors so lethal is their ability to play team basketball, meaning getting everybody involved. It seemed for awhile that it was the Curry and Thompson show. This meant players like Harrison Barnes weren’t getting the amount of shots they deserved and he fell into shooting slump and lost confidence.
The Warriors will need to play their style of basketball the rest of the season if they want to repeat as champions. The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder are not going anywhere.