The Warriors weren’t great and they weren’t terrible on Tuesday night, so whatever they were against the Washington Wizards at Oracle Arena was good enough for a 102-94 win. Golden State is now 67-7, which remains surreal to anyone who followed the team in the early 1990s.
Here are some notes and things from the Warriors’ victory, their 54th straight in the regular season at home:
–If there’s one area that continues to confound opponents it’s the Warriors’ ability to turn second shots into three points. Time and time again this season the Warriors have missed initially, only to then come up with an offensive rebound and kick out to one of their shooters. These are demoralizing scores for the other team.
The Warriors are the most efficient team in the NBA, so when you do force a miss, it’s imperative you get the rebound. Failing to secure the rebound often results in a scramble situation defensively, and no team spins around a defense faster than the Warriors.
These types of scores happen consistently for the Warriors, and it’s no accident. After all, they take a lot of 3-pointers and they often play small. When longs shots miss, they tend to miss long – and once that happens the rebound will often go to the quicker, more athletic and more instinctive team. Most of the time that’s the Warriors, and they make you pay consistently in that area. What’s most frustrating for the opposition is there doesn’t seem to be a way to defend these situations.
–The Wizards let this game get away the last two-plus minutes of the second quarter. They were up 46-37, and, truth be told, could have been up a little more. The Warriors were ho-humming and not particularly crisp up to that point. But Golden State finished off the quarter with a 12-0 run and played the rest of the game in control.
It took Washington a good 20 to 22 minutes to get its nine-point lead. Took a little more than two to give it all away and then some. The Warriors did the same kind of thing at Minnesota a few games back, erasing an eight-point deficit at the end of the third quarter in virtually no time at all.
–It’s actually pretty remarkable Washington stayed in the game as much as it did and as long as it did with John Wall, Bradley Beal and Nene playing poorly. Wall and Beal combined to go 10-for-30 from the floor, including 1-for-9 from 3-point range.
Nene had 10 points — on 4-for-8 shooting — in 18 minutes, but that was about the extent of his positivity. He went 2-for-6 from the line, committed five turnovers and had just one rebound. Naturally, he didn’t have an assist, either.
They mastered the game!! Can nobody stop Em…been watching them since bimbo Coles lol
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