The Warriors put an exclamation point on a big week of basketball on Friday, punctuating it with a convincing win over the Rockets in Houston, 125-108. This was supposed to be a monster Monday-Wednesday-Friday for Golden State and each night they come through in a big way.
On Monday, the Warriors routed the Cavaliers 126-91 at Oracle Arena; on Wednesday, they hammered the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-100. Their victory over the Rockets raises the Warriors’ record to 37-6.
Link to “Warriors WrapUp,” the postgame show on 95.7-FM The Game.
Among the topics:
–The best player on the floor on Friday night very well may have been Draymond Green. If, in fact, defense is every bit as important as offense, then there’s no doubt about it. Green was absolutely phenomenal, blocking shots, getting deflections, helping teammates beaten on penetration and, of course, guarding his own man extremely well.
His numbers were impressive, but we’re getting used to them with Green. He finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three blocks. For some icing on the cake, he went 3-for-5 from beyond the arc, which makes the Warriors that much harder to beat.
–We all know the Rockets take a hell of a lot of 3-pointers, which is what they did against the Warriors. But as Foghorn Leghorn would say, the Rockets did “a lot of choppin’ but no chips were flyin’.
Houston went just 7-for-35 from the 3-point line, but even that 20-percent clip is a little misleading. The Rockets were 5-for-31 before knocking down two of their last four from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Warriors took 38 3-pointers, knocking down 15 for a very Warrior-like 39.5 percent from downtown. For the game, Golden State shot 53 percent, and that’s quietly a six-game winning streak.
Eric Gordon went 0-for-7, James Harden 0-for-5, Sam Dekker 1-for-7; and Trevor Ariza 2-for-8 from beyond the arc for Houston. Interestingly, it was Patrick Beverley who got a few 3s to go down. He made three of four.
–The Warriors continued a season-long trend on Friday night, using a big third quarter to put away the game. The Warriors outscored Houston 37-22 in the third quarter, turning a five-point halftime lead into a 99-79 lead heading into the fourth quarter. In the Wednesday win over the Thunder, the Warriors had a 37-22 advantage in the third quarter, putting away a game that was tied at halftime.
The Warriors have outscored their opponents by 250 points in third quarters this year, best in the league. San Antonio is plus-181 in the third quarter and Charlotte is plus-139.
Link: 12 things the Warriors did to get to where they are now.
Link: Warriors weren’t always this good. Not even close.