Stephen Curry, Warriors shoot the lights out in victory against Suns: Takeaways
This offense is really something else
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3 min read
Sixteen years ago to the day, Antawn Jamison scored 51 points for the Golden State Warriors in a loss to the Seattle SuperSonics. The next night, Jamison dropped another 51 and led Golden State to a victory against the Los Angeles Lakers. I'm telling you this because it was mentioned on CSN's broadcast of the Warriors' 138-109 romp past the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, and the game didn't otherwise provide much fascinating information. Golden State was unstoppable, the Suns' youngsters had flashes of brilliance and the game was essentially over halfway through the third quarter. No surprises here.
Led by Stephen Curry's 31 points on 10-of-15 shooting, the Warriors shot 62.8 percent as a team and went 14 for 21 from 3-point range. Klay Thompson added 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting, while Phoenix's Eric Bledsoe scored 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting.
Takeaways:
Man, the Warriors can bust a game open quickly: With a minute left in the first quarter, Brandon Knight made a layup to cut Golden State's lead to 32-30. Neither side had played disciplined defense until this point, and it seemed like Phoenix might hang around awhile. Fast forward to the 9:25 mark of the second quarter, and a bucket from Kevin Durant extended the Warriors' lead to 48-30.
The Suns cut it to single digits by the end of the half, but could never quite make the big run they needed. When Golden State hit them with a 21-7 run in the third quarter, that was it.
A streak continues: If you are facing the Warriors after they've lost a game, you must be ready for them to be locked in. Golden State fell to the Houston Rockets 132-127 in double overtime on Thursday, and this victory means that, during its past 106 regular-season contests, it has never lost back-to-back games. The Warriors are associated with many NBA records, but this one is pretty remarkable.
The Splash Brothers had competition: The outcome might have never been in doubt, but the battle of the backcourts was kind of fun for a bit. The stats:
Curry and Thompson: 57 points on 20-for-37 FG, 11-for-14 3PT
Bledsoe and Devin Booker: 48 points on 18-for-36 FG, 6-for-13 3PT
Curry scored 20 points in the third quarter. Thompson made his first six 3-point attempts. Bledsoe made a career-high five 3-pointers. There was a lot of offense on display here.
A contrast in fast breaks: In the first quarter, Golden State center Zaza Pachulia stole a pass intended for Suns center Alex Len, and ... well, this is not what the Warriors usually look like on the fast break:
In the third quarter, Pachulia stole a pass intended for Phoenix center Tyson Chandler, and this is more like it:
You just have to laugh. Durant is one of the best transition finishers the NBA has ever seen, but he would rather shovel a pass behind his back to Thompson for an open 3-pointer. Also, if you look at the other side of the court, you can see Curry wide open. Is this really fair?
Point forwards: Green had five assists in the first quarter alone, and he finished with 13 assists in 28 minutes. That's absolutely absurd, and it illustrates how fully he has embraced his role as a stopper and a facilitator. Durant, by the way, continues to do much more than score for the Warriors: To go with his 20 points on 5-of-7 shooting (he went 9 for 9 from the free throw line), he had eight assists, four rebounds and three blocks.
Speaking of passing: Golden State recorded 37 assists, its 14th 30-assist game of the season. That is 10 more than the next closest team, per Warriors PR.
Not this again: The conversation about Green's leg kicks is not over, especially after another play the league could rule an "unnatural act." If anybody else does this, it's probably not a story, but here's Green flailing his limbs around again:
Is this reckless? I honestly don't know. All I know is that, if this can be described as a bad habit, it is proving to be hard to break.
