If there was ever any doubt about whether the Golden State Warriors were the team to beat in the Western Conference, that is no longer the case.
Down 15-0 on the road to San Antonio, on the second night of a brutal back-to-back, the Warriors could have folded. They could have rested the Splash Brothers and Draymond Green, run the reserves out there and moved on to focus on the remainder of their season. And no one would have blamed them.
Instead, the Warriors locked in on the defensive end, holding the Spurs to just 65 points over the final three quarters, and came away with 110-98 victory that reasserted their dominance in the West. The win was the Warriors’ ninth in a row and pushed their lead over the Spurs for the top spot in the conference to 3 1/2 games with just seven to play, essentially ending that race.
Here are a few takeaways from Wednesday’s showdown:
Defense, defense, defense
For the second night in a row, the Warriors showcased how dominant their defense can be. After holding the Rockets to a season-low for 3-pointers on Tuesday, the Dubs came right back and absolutely shut down the Spurs over the final three quarters, holding them to just 65 points. Golden State was hounding the Spurs’ ball handlers, contesting nearly every shot and forcing turnovers. Over their nine-game winning streak, the Warriors’ defensive rating is now an astounding 95.7, and they don’t even have Kevin Durant back yet. Good luck scoring against this team in the playoffs when the intensity ratchets up and players are even more locked in on the defensive end.
The Warriors’ bench can be a difference-maker
In order to sign Kevin Durant, the Warriors sacrificed some experienced bench players. Leandro Barbosa went back to Phoenix and Marreese Speights joined the Clippers. The Warriors still have Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, but the Warriors’ bench has averaged just under 32 points a game, placing the unit 21st in the league.
Wednesday, the bench poured in 45 points, including a combined 29 from Iguodala and David West. Expecting 15 points every night from West is unrealistic, and he may never score that many points again as a Warrior, but when Golden State gets this kind of production from its reserves, the Dubs are nearly impossible to beat, as their starters average a league-best 83.9 points.
To illustrate the importance of their bench, in the Warriors’ 61 wins, they’ve gotten an average of 33.2 points per game from their reserves; in their 14 losses, the bench has averaged just 26.3 points.
Playoff picture
As noted above, the Warriors now have a 3 1/2 game lead over the Spurs for the top spot in the West. Despite the Spurs holding the tiebreaker, the Warriors have all but locked up homecourt advantage for the Western Conference playoffs. With the Warriors boasting a league-best 31-4 record at home, this is of huge importance. Any team that hopes to beat them in the postseason will now have to go into Oracle Arena and win at least once.
The re-emergence of Pau Gasol
The Spurs didn’t get the win Wednesday night, but that was through no fault of Pau Gasol, who put up 18 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. He even hit JaVale McGee with a few between-the-legs crossover moves. Between-the-legs crossovers! From Pau Gasol! In addition to this game against the Warriors, Gasol has been impressive since his return from a fractured hand. In 18 games, Gasol is averaging 13.8 points and 7.2 rebounds while establishing himself as a legitimate threat from behind the arc. Since coming back, Gasol is shooting 60 percent from downtown on 2.5 attempts per night.
