Winning – not wins, but winning – is a feat and a mindset built by repetition. With the Warriors facing their toughest rivals and stiffest test of the season, they truly showed their championship pedigree.
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Illustrating just how well the Warriors are playing, the 57/58 Celtics roster included future National Basketball Association Hall of Famers Bill Russell, Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman, while the 2002/03 Dallas side contained two men who would become league MVPs in Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash (twice). LeBron James called out his team’s efforts despite the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 8-3 start amid a multitude of injuries because it didn’t match up to the Warriors. “And the team that beat us looks more hungry than we are”. Marco Belinelli led the Kings with 23 points. The Warriors’ length and ability to switch constantly on assignments were on flawless display during their comeback.
Up 96-92 with a minute and a half to play, Barnes stroked back-to-back three-pointers, the latter of which gave the Warriors a 102-92 lead and sealed the victory. “They didn’t have to play us or the Spurs”.
“We’re definitely proud of the last three nights, how we responded to everybody’s blows”, said Draymond Green.
New Orleans recorded just their second win of the season, shocking the San Antonio Spurs 104-90 as Ryan Anderson let loose for his second straight 30-point game.
As ESPN’s Ethan Sherwood Strauss noted, in the final six minutes, the Warriors’ small-ball lineup outscored the Clippers by 17.
The Toronto vs. Utah game was quite particular as the Jazz had a very sloppy start that turned out to be one of their best performances so far in the season. “If you contrast the end of the game with the (beginning) of the game, we were just much more aggressive with everything that we did“, Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. “If they make a shot over our hand, you shake that hand and go the other way but we can’t shoot ourselves in the foot defensively and make mistakes defensively and not be fundamentally sound”. One year ago, the Warriors won 11 of their first 13 games, and finished just three wins shy of getting to the historic mark.
It’s not that the Warriors maintain flawless execution themselves. They are 13-0 for a reason. Curry had 11 points in the spurt and Barnes added eight.
The Clippers were missing J.J. Redick for a third consecutive game because of back spasms. That should provide more than enough fuel to sustain the teams’ edge against one another, because it really is a rivalry within the rivalry – arguably the best offensive power forward in the game right now against one of the league’s best defenders.
You’ll want to pay particular to the one featuring Curry, Green, Thompson, Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala. The way Thompson was smiling on his way back down the court.
If I’m not close to 100 percent, I overthink and overcompensate on a lot of things. “He’s happier when he makes plays for people than when he makes plays for himself”. If you’re firing twos, it seems to be like, ‘What are you doing?’ ” Scott said.
It’s a different kind of finish every night but the same result.
And that’s the secret behind the Warriors’ super start.
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“It’s great”, Walton said. It’s probably the safest bet, and when faced with a 4-on-3 scenario, they chose to leave Iguodala open. They are officially listed as doubtful.
