After winning a must-win game, the Warriors can continue chasing the coveted No. 6 seed in the Western Conference, and furthermore, they reasonably believe they are good enough to get there.
But for any real chance of making such a move with 16 games left, they'll need to build on what they got in Saturday night's 128-121 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena. Dew.
This long-awaited victory was built on the back of a storied championship core of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. They understood the importance of this match and did a great job.
With some work from coach Steve Kerr, who reminded the Warriors of the bet during Friday's practice, the Veterans put together one of their cleanest games of the season against an opponent tied in the standings.
“We know what it takes,” Green told reporters in Los Angeles. “We understand. We have a good balance of players on our team that need to bring energy, and they bring that energy. Sometimes you get into a situation like that and… , ask, “Do you want to talk about it?” Does that add more pressure?
“I thought it was amazing that Steve went into the game saying, 'Listen, this is a big game.' This is a playoff game, and we came out here with that kind of focus. We need to come in and win.'' The guys got locked in and got the job done. ”
Green was listed as “questionable” on the injury report with back soreness, but felt good enough to start, adding 13 assists, 12 rebounds, six points and playing fast defense to add 12 points in 34 minutes. was recorded.
Curry, who returned after missing three games with a right ankle sprain, warmed up with a scoreless first quarter and scored a team-high 31 points in 26 minutes over the final three quarters.
“He got off to a slow start, but he's never worried, and we're never worried,” Kerr said. “You know he's going to get going. And what he's doing is just opening up the floor for other guys as well. It's not just his shot-making that gives us a lot of his threat. It creates easy shots.”
Thompson is the third member of the core and the first to loudly announce his presence to the Lakers, and his performance is likely to determine the direction of Golden State over the final month. It is.
Bouncing back from a subpar game in Wednesday night's loss to the Mavericks in Dallas, Thompson came off the bench and scored 21 points in 14 minutes in the first half to put the Warriors on track for victory. He totaled 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field, including 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.
“I just take what the defense gives me,” Thompson said. “And if they let me get open from a pindown or let me shoot a transition three, I'm going to shoot it. I don't overthink or overthink things. Just keep it simple. .That way, my games tend to be successful most of the time.”
Thompson played at a comfortable pace, took some nifty shots, added four rebounds and three assists, and made it all look effortless.
Golden State's recent history reveals that Thompson is the scorer who most determines the outcome of games. We've seen Curry grow a lot, but that's not enough. When Thompson plays big, he usually gets a W. This positions Thompson as his X-factor on the team.
When Curry scores 25 or more points, the Warriors win 70.4% of the time (336-140). But if Thompson scores at least his 25 points, they win 80.2 percent of the time (163-40). (Statistics courtesy of the kind folks at statmuse.com.)
For the Warriors to have a good chance of cracking the NBA play-in box and finishing in a way that guarantees them a top-six playoff berth, Thompson will need to play into the new sixth-man role. There will be. defense on the other side.
“I really feel his power coming off the bench. We're going to go to him right away,” Kerr said. “We're calling plays for him. It's a different atmosphere when he comes off the bench. He went out with Steph and then Steph went down to the bench. Most of the time, eventually It's very important for us to have one on the floor at all times.”
Jonathan Kuminga's 23 points were needed, but it was a night where the team's seasoned veterans did what they were supposed to do. They knew a win would put them ahead of the Lakers and move them one step closer to their goal of avoiding the play-in tournament.
They knew this even without Mr. Kerr's urging.
“He didn't have to tell me anything,” Curry said. “I just missed the last three.” [games]So I was excited just to come back.
“But you obviously understand the impact of every game that we play all the way to the end… Every game is important, especially against teams that are all mixed up in the standings.”
This game needed playoff intensity. Championship Core brought it to you. The next trick will try to keep it up for the next 16 games.
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