Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
With plenty of Santas in the vicinity, the Warriors pulled off a Christmas miracle.
Actually, a bunch of them. Yes, they won the game. But no made foul shots for James Harden!
Wednesday’s 116-104 stunner over the Rockets at Chase Center was as nice a gift as the team could give this season that didn’t involve Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Golden State did not let Harden touch the ball in the second half and watched as a close game became a legitimate laugher. Somehow, that’s three straight Warriors wins.
Harden was a minus-18, but most impressively for the Warriors, he went just 0-for-1 from the free-throw line, failing to collect a point from the charity stripe for the first time since March 17 of last season.
Defenders were swarming at Harden after halftime, doubling him every possession and making him dish virtually every time he touched the ball — dishing to teammates who could not regularly convert on the power play.
Who didn’t step up?
The Warriors’ youth held its own, Ky Bowman (four points, six assists, five rebounds) playing particularly well. But it was an in-between Warrior who brought it on the biggest stage this season will see.
Damion Lee is not allowing the Warriors to think about using his two-way contract for a demotion. The 27-year-old, in his third NBA season, posted perhaps the best game he’s played, finishing with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Steve Kerr has kept the shooting guard/forward in the starting lineup, and it’s paying off (or at least as much as it can for a team that improved to 8-24).
Glenn Robinson III (18 points) hit a pivotal 3 with about five minutes left to put the Warriors up, 106-97. Draymond Green’s trey prior to that cushioner was huge, the lone remaining star finishing with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Even Willie Cauley-Stein got involved in the action, a plus-29 with 10 points.
Christmas Par-D
As impressive as the offensive output was, the Warriors unwrapped their season’s best defensive effort, holding Harden to five second-half points and forcing Russell Westbrook into being the go-to Rocket. He should have been the run-away-from Rocket, going 0-for-8 from deep while scoring 30 points — but on 32 shots.
The game swung in the third, when Green’s running layup put the Warriors up, 84-83, for their first edge since the first quarter and awoke a crowd that had eaten too much turkey.
Draymond Green blows by James Harden to give the #Warriors their first lead since the opening quarter pic.twitter.com/lHB0q2QFJU
— KNBR (@KNBR) December 25, 2019
D’Angelo Russell (20 points) got a runner to drop through on the next possession, and Jacob Evans’ leaner made it 88-83. The Rockets wanted time with 1:57 to go in the third. It didn’t help, as Marquese Chriss (on a nice Bowman dish) dunked the Warriors into a shocking seven-point lead. The period finished 92-87 Warriors, with James Harden getting shut out for the quarter, which the Warriors won, 29-18.
Damion Lee doesn’t want to leave
The Warriors’ pressing two-way contract concerns with Bowman has gotten more press, but they are facing a decision with Lee, who spent so much of last season on the G-League/NBA yo-yo.
Wednesday, he was the best player on the court in a game that featured Harden and Westbrook. His 11.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game have helped establish himself as a player who belongs here, but games like this make him an asset the Warriors would want to hold on to.
This was fun, but it is still hard to muster excitement for this team
Christmas. National television. Harden’s (and Westbrook’s) Rockets, as close to a non-LeBron James rival as the dynastic Warriors had.
And yet…
Sure, the Warriors announced a sell-out crowd of 18,064, but the Bay Area chimneys were more heavily traveled Wednesday than the Chase Center aisles. The crowd got loud in the second half, but the arena did not rock.
This gap year for the Warriors will be over soon enough, and the energy should begin to grow in the place once the stars return. But until then, even bright days in San Francisco are days that exist to be crossed to make next season come sooner.