West rivals make Warriors back-to-back wins even sweeter with surprising results

Back-to-back wins over the New Orleans Pelicans provided a perfect 24-hour period for the Golden State Warriors, particularly given they were missing Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins and De'Anthony Melton for both games.

Led by a vintage defensive performance from Draymond Green, the Warriors kept the Pelicans to just 89 points following a 122-104 victory on Tuesday. Not only were the back-to-back wins important for Golden State themselves, but it was even more crucial coming against a team that also factors to be pushing for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Results went the Warriors way on Wednesday night

The Warriors may have had a somewhat favorable schedule so far, yet nothing is easy right now in the NBA and particularly when it comes to the West. Just ask the L.A. Clippers who after beating the Denver Nuggets and Warriors in back-to-back road games over the weekend, found themselves dropping a home game to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.

Against the same Trail Blazers team that lost by 36 to Golden State in their season opener last week, the Clippers struggled offensively in the fourth-quarter and missed some crucial free-throws in a 106-105 defeat at the new Intuit Dome.

That was just one result on Wednesday that made the Warriors' back-to-back wins even more sweeter. In perhaps an even bigger surprise than the Clippers loss, the Memphis Grizzlies fell 119-106 at home to a Brooklyn Nets team that were on the second night of a back-to-back.

The Grizzlies were expected to surge back up the conference after their 2023-24 season was destroyed by injury, yet they're just 2-3 so far with surprise losses to the Nets, Chicago Bulls and a 20-point loss to the Houston Rockets.

The Los Angeles Lakers also lost their second-straight game with a 134-110 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, with the pacific rival now dropping to 3-2 on the season after starting with three-straight wins.

It leaves Golden State all alone in second in the West standings, with their 4-1 record only shaded by the Oklahoma City Thunder who have lived up to their preseason hype with a flawless 5-0 record following Wednesday's win over the San Antonio Spurs.

Kevin Durant's Phoenix Suns will have a chance to join the Warriors on a 4-1 record when they visit L.A. to face the Clippers on Thursday, while Klay Thompson's Dallas Mavericks can also reach 4-1 with a win against the visiting Rockets.