The Golden State Warriors picked up their toughest and grittiest win of the season against one of the better teams in the league, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in their Veterans Day matchup on Friday night.
This game left a lot of optimism for fans going forward, even if the game presented some prior pessimism about their chances of winning. This included the some individual matchups and the general disappointing form of some players to begin the season.
The Warriors took that energy and used it to propel them to a comeback victory at home behind another MVP caliber performance from Stephen Curry. Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole also chipped in to combine for 78 points as a trio.
Stephen Curry may have catapulted the Golden State Warriors offense again, but it was their defense that stepped up to deliver a fifth win for the season.
While both teams played high-level defense all game, the Warriors were able to kick it up a notch in the fourth quarter to push them over the top. This came to fruition as Klay Thompson, a player who has struggled on both ends to start the season, made a key stop on Donovan Mitchell to seal the game.
Golden State’s defense was by far the best they’ve played all season, coming in a game where only eight players saw five or more minutes of playing time. This signals that Steve Kerr saw this game as a must win as he kept in the best two-way players on the team for the entire game. Four minutes of Jonathan Kuminga were nice to see, but that was it for the younger squad outside of Jordan Poole.
Kevon Looney led the team in blocks with two while Andrew Wiggins also pitched in a block along with two steals. The Warriors stayed out of the bonus for nearly the entire game, and it was a major part of why they took home this win. Most of this comes from players Thompson and Poole not fouling when they got beat off the dribble.
The Warriors trailed the Cavaliers for most of the game, even as late as 1:18 left in the fourth quarter. A few key plays late in the game ultimately allowed them to get over the hump. The first one came off an assist from Donte DiVincenzo in his first game since he was injured against the Sacramento Kings. After he passed on a decent shot, he passed the ball to Poole for the best shot he’s nearly seen all season as he drained the three-pointer.
The second came from Thompson, who did a better job of not forcing shots in the second half. His late three brought the Warriors to within one, set up by the sublime playmaking of Draymond Green yet again. The third big shot came at the 1:18 mark, another three, this time from Curry. He immediately followed it with a layup, giving the Warriors a lead they never surrendered.
This game showed a lot of fight the Warriors have scarcely shown this season, both offensively and especially defensively. This could be a huge sign of what’s to come as the defending champions look to go back-to-back this season.