Tuesday began with the somewhat emotional, if not odd, backdrop of Andrew Wiggins’ return to the Warriors facility. But as the pregame pomp and circumstance faded, the reality of a monumental contest — in the final home game of the season — set in.
With Klay Thompson out (lower back soreness) and Wiggins not yet physically ready to return, Golden State battled with a nothing-to-lose, young Oklahoma City Thunder team.
They relied upon their own youth and an impressive second half performance to secure a 136-125 win that could go a long way in helping them avoid the play-in tournament.
Defense saved for the second half
No defense was played in the first half. None. Both teams shot well over 50 percent. The half ended with a 79-69 Thunder lead.
That, for you calculator fiends out there, was a pace for a combined 296 points, which would be near-historic territory for combined points in a single game.
It’s funny when a defensive first half is that egregious. Steve Kerr’s edict at the half was clearly something along the lines of “play some *insert expletive* defense.”
And so they did.
As has always been the case for this team, especially at home, great defense is contagious and requires buy-in from all parties.
Much of the Warriors’ energy came from their sparkplug guards in Donte DiVincenzo and Gary Payton II.
They bothered a previously red-hot Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 21 first-half points. He was held to 11 in the second half.
Both of them flew at rebounds like trapeze artists swinging from landing to landing, helping to create a 19-13 offensive rebound advantage for Golden State.
DiVincenzo hit some massive 3s to keep the Warriors close, especially in that brutal first half. He had 16 points (6-of-10, 4-of-8 from 3-pt), with 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and a couple turnovers.
Payton II had a typically outsized impact in his 17 minutes, concluding with 8 points (4-of-8, 0-of-2 from 3-pt), 4 rebounds and an assist.
That joint effort consistently eases the burden on Kevon Looney, who came into this game with a 7-rebound lead over Clint Capela for the league lead in offensive rebounds. He had another 4 offensive boards on Tuesday and 11 in the game.
The likes of Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga offered something similar, especially in the third quarter.
Kuminga got the start, and began slow, but had a few energy-supplying transition buckets, along with assaulting the glass on either end. He had 9 points, and his 8 rebounds were split evenly on either end.
Moody’s impact was perhaps the most surprising. There are times when he looks lost, and others when he looks like a bruising, composed, two-way veteran.
He consistently created problems for the Thunder and looked unafraid to shoot, which is usually the hallmark of a good Moody game. He had 13 points (5-of-7, 3-of-5 from 3-pt), 5 rebounds and an assist.
While Draymond Green was masterful, he needed that defensive and youth-spurred chaos to match his own calculated brand.
It’s hard to understate how valuable Green has been in this final stretch of the season. His defensive acumen is nonpareil; he routinely jumps on switches to turn open shots into contested ones, guards one-on-ones impressively, and orchestrates a defensive system like a field general.
But he also shows an awareness on offense to know when to get involved. He did just that, scoring 17 (6-of-9) with 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks and 3 turnovers.
The second half effort was vintage Draymond. After taking a 79-point drubbing, the Warriors defense allowed just 46 points in the second half with him at the helm. Chase Center fed off every stop and will only get louder if and when the Warriors return home in the playoffs.
Poole comes up huge with Wiggins and Thompson on the bench
Stephen Curry did his thing. You can bank on that. It wasn’t a hyper-efficient night, but he consistently overcame double teams, drove to the rim and created space. He had 34 points (11-of-25, 6-of-13 on 3-points, perfect on 6 free throws), 5 rebounds, 6 assists, a steal and a miraculous zero turnovers.
But it’s always about the help that Curry gets. There were multiple contributors, especially on the defensive end, but it on offense, it was Jordan Poole’s scoring that loomed large.
With Wiggins and Thompson out, Golden State needed another reliable scorer. Poole offered that.
The always-unpredictable guard always has at least a handful of head-scratching plays, but when he gets in a rhythm, it’s addictive.
He found that in the fourth quarter, and it drove the Warriors home to a win and a 34-19 advantage in the quarter.
While he was 8-of-19 and 5-of-12 from 3 for the game with 30 points, he saved his best for last. He had 18 in the final period, going 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-6 from 3-point range. It allowed Curry to get his full rest until there were six minutes left in the quarter.
Golden State didn’t actually lead until the 8:30 mark of the fourth. It was apropos of Poole’s final-quarter heroics that he was the one to give them their first lead at that point and sustain it.
If the Warriors are going to do anything — with “anything” meaning win a series — they’ll almost certainly need some of those Poole fireworks.
The road ahead
The Warriors will not have home court advantage in the playoffs — assuming they get there — barring some upsets, including one (at least based on seeding) of their own.
That’s a massive departure from each year in which they’ve competed for a title. In all six of their NBA Finals appearances over the previous eight years, they’d been a third seed or higher. Even last year’s third seed was the only time they weren’t first or second in the West.
When they were the sixth seed, back in 2013-14, Golden State got bounced in the first round by the Los Angeles Clippers.
This is a decidedly different path from their other title-competitive campaigns.
With the win, Golden State (42-38) finishes the season with a 33-8 record at home, guaranteed to be at worst, third-best in the league, and potentially tied with the Denver Nuggets for second best.
But their final two games of the season come on the road, at Sacramento and Portland. Their road record, at 9-30, is staggering. Only three teams — the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets — all of whom are vying for the top pick in the draft have worse records on the road.
It begs the question, will the Warriors flip the switch in the playoffs? Will the joint returns of Gary Payton II and Andrew Wiggins make enough of a difference that they can steal at least one road game in a series?
Logic says no, but the Warriors have never been a team hamstrung by common sense. To avoid the play-in, though, they’ll likely need to win one of the final two games, with that final game against the throwing-the-towel blazers the far more enticing opportunity.