Well, at least that’s over. The Warriors’ five-game nightmare losing stretch has come to an end. Golden State snapped out of its malaise on Tuesday with a balanced, 112-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
The skid snapped
The fact that the Warriors let it get to this point was pretty startling for a team which still figures to compete for a championship this season, even if they are shorthanded.
It all started with that astounding, 21-point collapse to the Dallas Mavericks, and a LeBron James-led mauling punctuating the stretch. Monday night’s youth-led loss in Denver felt like a step in the right direction, and it appeared like some of that energy continued into Tuesday.
Both Draymond Green and James Wiseman are expected back over the next few weeks, but forcing them to come into a situation where the Warriors were in a free fall would be a brutal ask.
This win was more in the vein of what the Warriors want to do. There was better ball movement, with youthful penetration helping the spacing, decent three-point shooting (13-of-34) and tangible defensive effort, highlighted by Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins.
Steve Kerr said after that it was the best defensive effort “in a long time.”
It wasn’t a peach of a performance, but it was, finally, a respectable game.
Wiggins re-ignites, Poole stays lit
Sometimes it seems like Andrew Wiggins forgets just how good he is. At the start of the third quarter, he seemed to remember, and while it was a brief stretch, it was dominant.
He was penetrating, shooting with confidence, working aggressively on the boards, and causing mistakes with proactive defense both on and off the ball. He finished with a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double that featured three blocks.
After Wiggins’ stretch, it was Poole, coming off a 30-point performance, who remained hot. He’s as streaky as they come, and it appears he’s in the midst of an upswing.
He provided 20 efficient points off the bench, going 8-of-13 and 4-of-6 from three along with a couple steals, 3 rebounds and 4 assists.
When those two guys are being proactive on the floor, and there are solid contributions from just about everyone else, it allows the Warriors to win comfortably even when Stephen Curry scores 15 points.
Effort from veterans
Before the game, Kerr indicated that it wasn’t just the Warriors, young, sometimes frustrating core that needed to provide energy and effort. The veterans, Kerr said, needed to bring that to the table, too.
That showed up late on a few occasions, but particularly in the middle of the fourth quarter.
With a 17-point lead and just over six minutes remaining, the Warriors’ two longest-tenured players provided some of that much-needed energy.
Curry put himself in a dangerous position to chase down a ball heading out of bounds and try and keep it in. The Clippers recovered it, but Klay Thompson stayed in position and engaged defensively to block the shot.
Los Angeles scored anyway, but Thompson came back, drew in a double team and then found a wide open Kuminga.
Thompson showed up again, as the Warriors’ lead was cut to 13 with less than three minutes to go, hitting a driving bank shot. He didn’t have an exceedingly efficient game, going 9-of-23 from the floor, but he clearly gained a bit of confidence in the second half of his 20-point performance.
That effort was matched down the stretch by Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga. Both players flew around the court late and prevented the lead from being cut to single digits with energetic drives, creating lanes for shots.
Kuminga finished with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, while Moody had 10 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Jordan Poole’s shooting carried the Warriors through the third quarter, with the two rookies and two vets ensuring the lead didn’t slip away.
It wasn’t exactly a banner performance in the fourth, but it was a departure from the calamities of recent weeks.