Golden State Warriors’ veterans come up big to deliver in Washington

They may have been missing their third wheel of the dynamic trio in Klay Thompson, but veterans Stephen Curry and Draymond Green ensured the Golden State Warriors closed their back-to-back in positive fashion against the Washington Wizards on Monday.

After Sunday’s loss to the Chicago Bulls, the Warriors were staring down the barrel again with an eight-point deficit early in the fourth-quarter. Yet Curry’s 41 points, and Green’s 11 in the final period, brought Golden State back from the brink and delivered a crucial win for the reigning champions.

The Golden State Warriors got their first win of the season on the second night of a road back-to-back, pulling away from the Washington Wizards late in a 127-118 victory.

Both teams started efficiently on the offensive end, riding the hot hands of respective stars in Curry and Kristaps Porzingis. A day after Nikola Vucevic went for 43 against the Warriors, the Latvian also took advantage of his size differential with 12 points in the opening eight minutes.

But after Washington took a 21-16 lead, Golden State responded with a 15-3 run to create their own seven-point lead. A Kyle Kuzma near half-court heave at the first-quarter buzzer was a deflating end for the Warriors whose lead was cut to two.

The teams went back-and-forth for the most part in the second, before Porzingis returned to pile on more pain as he tallied 25 in a dominant first-half. Yet, after the Wizards threatened to make a decisive move, the Warriors again responded with a 13-2 run over the last 1:35 to turn a six-point deficit into a five-point lead at the half.

Jordan Poole was the main orchestrator of everything in the second-quarter, finishing with a career-best 26 points in the first-half to match Porzingis’ output. The dynamic backcourt of he and Curry combined for 47 points in the first 24 minutes.

The Warriors quickly undid all their good work as the Wizards immediately started on a 10-2 run in the third. That momentum continued with an extended 25-11 spurt that opened up an 89-80 lead. But as they had done in each of the first two-quarters, Golden State closed well with a couple of Curry triples catapulting a 13-4 run that tied the game at 93 with 12 minutes to play.

A couple of difficult dagger threes from Kyle Kuzma helped the Wizards out to an eight-point lead, but that was matched by a pair of unlikely triples from Green to keep the Warriors in touch. An impossible Curry three over two defenders gave Golden State the lead again, and he followed that with a clever bank shot to give his team a four-point lead.

Washington weren’t done with, but the pivotal moment came with just over two minutes on the clock. Kuzma had a running layup that cut the lead to two, with an initial call on Anthony Lamb giving him the chance for a three-point play. However, Steve Kerr successfully challenged the call to overturn the basket, before Curry came down and drilled another jumper to extend the lead to six. A Poole three after a Kuzma turnover all but ensured an important Warrior win to get them back to .500 on the season.

It wasn’t the most efficient 41 points Curry’s ever had (12-for-28 shooting), but he made all the important ones at critical times in what was clearly his best game since returning from a shoulder injury. After a poor performance against Chicago in which he produced a ridiculous eight turnovers, the two-time took no time to respond in punctuating fashion.

Green was equally huge in the fourth, particularly given the Warriors needed a third scorer to complement Curry and Poole. With Andrew Wiggins (14 points, 6-for-15 shooting) relatively quiet, the former Defensive Player of the Year stepped up with 17 points, six rebounds and ten assists in another gallant performance from the 32-year-old.

Poole was quieter in the second-half but still finished with an efficient 32 points on 12-for-20 shooting and 7-for-13 from three-point range. The pivotal difference from Sunday’s loss was their ability to eventually contain the opposition big man, with Porzingis having just seven points over the final 24 minutes as Golden State did a good job of denying him the ball. Perhaps more importantly, the 23 turnovers that killed their chances against the Bulls were contained to just 12 as opposed to the Wizards’ 14.

The Warriors now have a couple of days off before another NBA Finals rematch against the league-leading Celtics in Boston.