Believe it or not, Thompson’s night was second biggest for Golden State, who avoided their first 2-game losing skid of the season, and improve to 30-2, the best 32 game start in National Basketball Association history.
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Turnovers by the Warriors enabled the Rockets to get back into the game as Harden’s 3-pointer cut the lead to four points and jumper made it a three-point ballgame.
Nor are they aren’t letting anything take away from their win, which is the fourth in a row.
Head coach Rick Carlisle was going to be prepared for this game whether the Warriors played with or without Curry. The shot put the Warriors back up by five, and it concluded a almost two-and-a-half-minute stretch without a made bucket for the Dubs. But Dallas wasn’t paying lip service: everyone talked about how good Golden State was, with or without the reigning MVP.
Philadelphia led by as much as 12 in the second half and was up, 95-86, early in the fourth before Sacramento made a late push.
The Warriors also were without center Festus Ezeli (toe injury), while guard Leandro Barbosa (left shoulder sprain) and forward Harrison Barnes (sprained left ankle) didn’t make the quick Texas trip.
This is not at all to suggest that the Warriors, what with the incredible start they’ve launched this season, are a paper tiger. Why should the Mavericks?
“I didn’t care about that, man”, Thompson said when asked about being the league’s top 2-guard. “We didn’t defend well enough and we missed a lot of shots”. “It’s got to be ‘We are going to do this”.
“When we lost (to the Celtics) in 2008, that was the turn for me”, Bryant said.
The Warriors’ ball movement and execution was pristine in the first half, and Green orchestrated the show with extraordinary flair. “When we play this type of way we can be really good”.
“We were active, with 35 assists as a team, everybody was contributing and everybody was making plays and reads, that was a championship effort”, Walton said. You can’t give up that many easy shots. “They’ve got playmakers and they’ve got shooters, so they’re about as complete of a team as it can get”.
It is no surprise that those two stepped to the forefront, considering that they are considered the second- and third-best players on the team (in whatever order people prefer). “But at the same time, we didn’t play with the same flow we usually do on offense”.
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Though the Warriors still had All-Star candidates Klay Thompson and Draymond Green in the starting lineup, the team was obviously reeling from Curry’s loss. And after seeing Curry explode for 51 points during the Warriors’ 128-114 home win on February 4, the Dallas defense will certainly need to be on high alert to keep the sharpshooter contained should he be in the lineup. Of course, that number has been with a healthy Curry.
