The Warriors returned from the All-Star break with an absolute dud of a performance against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night. But they got back to .500 promptly on Friday with a relatively straightforward 116-101 win against one of the league’s bottom-feeders in the Houston Rockets.
Klay goes nuclear
I mean, if you want a straightforward win, or at least the path of least resistance, you’d ask for positive performances from the Warriors’ two best available players.
Golden State, with Draymond Green resting after a right knee contusion, leaned on Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole. Both of them answered the bell.
Thompson was outstanding and generally took good shots, which generally leads to a good game from him. But he also hit some outrageous, tightly contested threes that helped the Warriors maintain a double-digit lead for the majority of the game.
He opened the fourth with a three that broke the Warriors away from the single-digit mark and a couple minutes later, hit a fading three for a four-point play. After that, he iso’d against Usman Garuba and pulled up off the dribble for a clean three. He was feeling himself.
They needed him and his 42 points on the second part of a back to back, a situation in which he’s usually on the bench. He was 12 of 19 from the floor and all of his makes (of 17 attempts) were from three. It was a vintage Klay night.
Poole play well
Jordan Poole, meanwhile, was impressive. When Poole plays under control, limiting that tendency to spin himself into oblivion and dribble a hole in the ground, he’s great.
He had 15 points, 8 assists and just one turnover. His ability to run the offense while limiting turnovers was really encouraging.
While he was quiet in the second half, that might not have been the worst thing. Having Poole slow the pace down and not chase transition assists like a lunatic allowed the offense to flow a bit more naturally.
He wasn’t lights out, but he was composed, under control. That’s valuable.
The rest of the rotation… eh
There are still far more questions than answers about the rest of the roster.
Jonathan Kuminga got the start and, despite some underwhelming stats, had some encouraging effort on both ends. He still can’t seem to figure out how to go without fouling, even when he goes straight up, and he might be a too deferential with his shot despite his obvious scoring ability. That might be him trying to play within the Warriors’ offense a little too much. But his intent was there.
It’s hard to know who in that group can help them make the playoffs. Donte DiVincenzo is obviously a capable player. Too much is consistently asked of Kevon Looney given the glaring lack of frontcourt options. Patrick Baldwin Jr. is showing some promise in limited minutes, but he’s still raw.
Moses Moody looks scared to shoot the ball and a shell of the player who he flashed like he could be. Ty Jerome continues to show that he knows what he’s doing, but can be out of control with the ball and might not have a spot on the roster come playoff (or play-in time). Anthony Lamb offers something, usually positive, but it’s not always clear what it is. JaMychal Green is hard to watch at this stage in his career.
There’s a clear lack of long wings who can score, and frontcourt players who can lessen the burden on Looney. While other teams, like the Lakers, made upgrades (mostly the players not named D’Angelo Russell).
The point is, there’s not a great balance on this roster. While it was an easy win on Friday, it came against the worst team in the NBA. There’s plenty of cause for concern going forward, and the Warriors will have to be far better about not turning the ball over.