Matt Steinmetz

A .500 team from the Eastern Conference came into Oracle on Wednesday night — without their two best players. What do you think happened? If you guessed that we’d be talking about a Warriors’ blowout, then you’re right on the money.

The Warriors weren’t at their most impressive against the Chicago Bulls, but it was plenty good enough for an easy win — 123-92. The win was expected after all, with Golden State coming in with 137 regular-season wins without suffering consecutive losses … And the Warriors were coming off a loss to Sacramento on Saturday.

They didn’t have to be at their absolute best because Chicago was playing without Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade. They also lost Paul Zipser, who started at forward, to an ankle injury early in the game.

Link to “Warriors WrapUp,” the postgame show on 95.7-FM The Game. Continue reading →

I know they have stats for wins and losses in three-point games and wins and losses in five-point games, etc., but I have another way of determining what a close game is or not: Whether I think it was or not.

By my count, the Warriors have played 10 games this year that came down to the last few minutes, the last few possessions — crunch time, if you will — the times when games are decided. I’ve got them 5-5 in those games, including 0-3 in overtime games.

You might quibble that there should be another couple or few games among this list. Fair enough. These are the ones that jumped out to me.

There have been a few criticisms of the Warriors so far this season, and, yes, that’s even while they’ve rolled to a league-best 43-8 record. They include their propensity for turnovers, their questionable late-game shot selection and their inability, at times, to compete with the opponent’s physicality. There’s also a perception out there that the Warriors haven’t played well at the offensive end during close games. I figured I’d take a look at the dozen games and tally up how they did at that end when the game was on the line.

–At Milwaukee: Warriors 124, Bucks 121 — The Warriors were up 14 points with under seven minutes remaining, so they withstood Bucks’ comeback … and blew that lead, which may become a little bit of a theme.

After Stephen Curry bucket made it 122-117 with 2:47 remaining, the Warriors’ possessions went as follows: Kevin Durant missed 3, Draymond Green miss, Curry missed 3, Green miss, Durant miss. That’s no field goals in five big possessions.

It didn’t matter because Green stole a Tony Snell inbounds pass with a second left to preserve the win.

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The Warriors are an NBA-best 43-8 with the All-Star break looming. At times this year they’ve looked unbeatable. But every once in a while they look like they looked on Saturday night — a 109-106 overtime loss to the Kings in Sacramento.

But if you take a gander at the big picture, the Warriors are in great shape right now … absolutely great shape. We hit on a variety of Warriors’ topics this morning on Joe, Lo and Dibs on 95.7-FM The Game. There’s a link at bottom. Among the topics:

–The injuries to Zaza Pachulia and David West have been terrific silver linings to the season so far. Those recent injuries have allowed coach Steve Kerr to take a look at some players he might not have gotten a look-see at: James Michael McAdoo and Kevon Looney. McAdoo and Looney have gotten more playing time of late and they haven’t done badly with it. Let’s be honest, it remains unclear how much either of these young guys will play once the postseason comes, but Kerr might be getting a better handle on it because of all this.

In addition, Pachulia and West are older players. These injuries aren’t serious and they’re not long term. So any break or rest that comes now will only help these veterans down the line.

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