© Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
OAKLAND – If you like shooting and don’t care about defense, Wednesday night was a beautiful sight. The Warriors and Wizards failed to slow each other down in a game that featured end-to-end offensive quality. The Warriors beat the Wizards 144-122.
It was also a night that honored the 1975 NBA Champion Warriors. The 2018 Warriors donned the yellow throwbacks worn in an era that, like tonight, put the emphasis firmly on the offensive side of the ball.
Here are five observations from tonight:
Stephen Curry is far too good at basketball
It’s very possible that there are people in the world that have heard of Steph Curry and not the NBA. Curry, a two-time MVP, has changed the way teams play basketball. He shoots the ball better than any person in NBA history and on nights like tonight, you see stretches of basketball that make you forget about literally everything else besides how ridiculously good Curry is at shooting.
In the first quarter alone, Curry had 23 points and made his first five threes. He entered the game trailing Jamal Crawford for 5th all-time in three-point field goals made and broke that record with 3:30 left in the first quarter. That quarter included an absurd circus shot after the whistle. But as Steph Curry does, Steph Curry kept doing.
He finished the game just short of his career high of 54 points that he scored in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks in 2013. He finished with 51 points and went 11-of-16 from three and 10-of-10 from the free throw line. It is the most Curry has ever scored in Oracle Arena. Curry also has the NBA record with 13 three-pointers made in a game.
Stephen Curry has his sixth career 50-point game with 51 points, matching the most he's ever scored at Oracle Arena
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) October 25, 2018
Another note: it’s the 10th time Curry has had made at least 10 threes in a game:
Stephen Curry has 10-or-more threes in a game for the 10th time in his career.
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) October 25, 2018
Champion class of 75′ returns with jokes about onion farts and pungent aftershave
That’s all true. Before the offensive fireworks were on display, three of the 1975 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors – a team that swept the then-Washington Bullets 4-0 for the first West Coast Warriors championship – in Rick Barry, Jamaal Wilkes and Clifford Ray spoke to the media.
Well, Barry did most of the talking, but he had plenty of stories that involved the whole 1975 team.
Barry recalled how sometimes eccentric Warriors broadcaster Bill King used to “eat a lot of onions and fart a lot.” He also remembered fans charging onto the hood of a car he was in after winning the title and collapsing the roof.
Best of all, he remembered his rookie season in which he shared a room with Al Attles, who later became the Warriors head coach that led the team to the 1975 championship. Attles had some “magic shave stuff” that Barry said had a funky smell.
“I’ve got to play well so I can demand a single room next year,” Barry recalled thinking.
After the first quarter, the 75′ team was honored, with Ray, Barry, Wilkes, Attles, Charles Dudley, George Johnson, Butch Beard and assistant coach Joe Roberts all among the honorees.
Scoring: it ain’t boring
Some people love a good pitcher’s duel, or a 0-0 soccer game that ends with a last-second goal. Sure, sometimes that’s fun. But an all-offense NBA game is pretty much as fun as it gets.
At the end of the first quarter, the Warriors and Wizards were on pace for a 184-148 game. By the end of the first half, they were on pace for a 160-142 game. The Warriors and Wizards were still a ways off from the NBA record for points scored in a regulation game, which was set in 1990 in a 160-158 Warriors win that featured 38 points from Chris Mullin.
What might go missing on night’s like these, when Curry scores 51, is that Kevin Durant put up 30 points along with 8 rebounds and 7 assists.
Draymond Green dished the ball better than John Wall
Wall entered the game as the 8th-leading assister in the NBA at 8 assists per game, just ahead of Curry at 7.8 per game. Green entered the game tied with Kevin Durant at 5.8 assists per game, but put everyone to shame. The way Green plays the game is so fundamental and intelligence-heavy that it often flies under the radar, even more so when Curry drops 51 and Durant nearly has a triple-double with 30 points.
Still, Green was his usual self with 5 points, 5 rebounds and 12 assists tonight, setting screens and directing the offense to perfection. Green’s familiarity with the offense is a reason why head coach Steve Kerr said he has played him at the center spot frequently this season, despite saying his preference was to avoid it. Kerr added that he’s tried to use Green only against smaller lineups rather than the “monster” centers he has Damian Jones line up against.
A glow up is real
That was the line from DeMarcus Cousins as the Warriors displayed a Draymond Green’s high school basketball photo and asked Warriors players to hashtag their response. Andre Iguodala was also featured in the video, but Green got most of the heat for his photo.
Timeout entertainment: Some teammates clown on Draymond Green for a high school throwback picture pic.twitter.com/3a6eVZv7Dg
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) October 25, 2018