With a victory in Oklahoma City, the Warriors increased their winning streak to nine — the longest active run in the league.
Each of the Warriors’ nine wins have come without Draymond Green, who could miss another month with a back injury.
Andre Iguodala returned from a hip injury that kept him out the previous eight contests, but exited after six minutes and didn’t return due to back tightness. Klay Thompson scored a team-high 21 points, including two clutch 3s, with his increased minutes restriction.
Josh Giddey led a late Thunder push that featured a pressure defense that caused some concerning miscues from Golden State, but the Warriors (41-13) held off OKC behind late-game heroics from the Splash Bros.
Here are three takeaways from Golden State’s win.
Jordan Poole and Jonathan Kuminga, Yin and Yang
The Warriors played some of their best ball on Monday when Jonathan Kuminga and Jordan Poole shared the court. That’s a credit to each player finding a balance within their games in their own ways and applying it to Golden State’s system.
Kuminga was especially effective as a screener. He played a ton of small-ball center, making the case against the public chorus singing for additional big man help at the trade deadline. Kuminga lived above the rim, rarely settling for jumpers and making quick decisions with the ball — exactly what GSW needs out of him at this stage in his career.
Poole also dialed back some of the on-ball shot creating that has made him so effective, taking a more opportunistic approach. In his first 10 minutes, Poole attempted only two shots, but tallied four rebounds and four assists.
Kuminga and Poole were both on the court for the Warriors’ 9-0 run at the turn of the second quarter. They ran the second unit impressively, then blended in with Curry, Thompson and Iguodala.
The two young players complement each other with opposite play styles. Poole is an outside-in scorer; the threat of his 3-point shot often sets up slashes into the paint. Kuminga is the opposite, a high-flying force who can occasionally make defenders pay for sagging off. Poole is all finesse and skill, Kuminga brutish and explosive. Poole butters his bread on the offensive end, Kuminga on D.
Poole finished with 11 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and two steals. Kuminga chipped in 16, four rebounds, four assists and several more highlight-worthy plays.
Golden State’s duo shined against Oklahoma City, and they might be the two most important reserves for the rest of the season for the Warriors.
Look at Lu Dort, man, so inspirational
All season, Andrew Wiggins has checked the opposing team’s most menacing perimeter threat. His spectacular work on the defensive end is one of the biggest reasons why he’s a first-time All-Star (that, plus the K-Pop hive).
On Monday, Wiggins’ matchup to start was Luguentz Dort, the undrafted third-year forward from Canada.
Dort arrived in the 2020 playoffs for his defensive work against James Harden. He was always lauded as a defensive specialist who couldn’t shoot; he went 0-for-6 from 3 in Game 3 and 0-for-9 in Game 5. But his defense on Harden helped Oklahoma City force a Game 7, and he drilled six of his 12 3-pointers in the deciding tilt.
Now Dort has made himself into a real piece for the future in OKC. He’s flashed some playmaking ability and takes much tougher shots as more of a focal point of the Thunder’s offense — particularly as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander remains sidelined.
On the year, Dort is averaging 16.8 points per game while hitting 33.7% of his 3s. He’s blossoming into a true 3-and-D player. And against Golden State, he dropped a game-high 26 points while making life tough for Curry. On the sixth OKC chance one trip in the fourth quarter, he threw down a Kuminga-esque putback jam.
It may have been Wiggins’ easiest assignment of the year, but what’s not to love about Dort’s rise?
Curry out of sorts
Against Dort for most of the night, Curry struggled to find a rhythm offensively.
At halftime, he had just eight points and four turnovers. Every time it looked like he might heat up, he just didn’t.
In the third quarter, he drilled a tough 3 over Dort after losing him momentarily on a ball screen. But on the next possession, Curry tried to build on the make and airballed another 3.
As OKC blitzed him coming off screens, Curry became more of a distributor. After his early turnovers, he consistently made the right reads, often finding the diving screener either for a bucket inside or on a short roll for a 4-on-3.
Entering Monday, Curry was coming off a 40-point explosion and a hyper-efficient 20-point night against Sacramento. Curry has still found ways to impact winning, and he drilled a late 3 to ice the game for good. Even with his near-triple double (18 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds), he’s still searching for a more consistent MVP-level stretch.
The Warriors have kept winning regardless.