Even with some stars dimmed, Golden State still paints the sky
It was one of those plays for the Warriors’ season highlight reel, and that should get your attention. It said everything about Stephen Curry, the quickest team in the NBA and the flawless teamwork that has made the Warriors unbeatable at home.
Late in the third quarter of
the Warriors’ 123- 110 victory over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night, Curry took a pass deep in the backcourt and was immediately confronted by James Harden. In an instant, with the type of reaction only the great ones possess, Curry whipped a long, perfect, left- handed pass behind his back to Andre Iguodala, who fed Leandro Barbosa in stride for a layup.
It brought down the house — and this is a house not easily swayed.
Make that 42 straight wins at Oracle Arena, and although the Warriors disappointed head coach Steve Kerr with some extended lethargy, it was certainly worth the time for a national television audience on TNT. Curry poured in 35 points, Andrew Bogut flourished with increased playing time, Shaun Livingston threw bullet passes out of a playmaker’s dream, and Marreese Speights scored a very efficient 15 points in 12 minutes.
When people around the league check out the box score — and you’re thinking LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Gregg Popovich, other Mount Rushmore types — they’ll notice that Klay Thompson was just about invisible, by his standards, shooting 5- for- 19 from the floor. Draymond Green, undaunted but shaken by a first- half collision, took only three shots all night. And yet, here was another win that left no doubt by the finish. Every single challenge is met at Oracle, no exceptions, slumping stars be damned.
Astoundingly, the Warriors have won 98 straight games, including the playoffs, in which they had a 15- point lead at some point ( 16 in the first half Tuesday). Maybe that doesn’t sound so great — sort of like a baseball team leading after eight innings — until you realize that the NBA is all about momentumturning runs. Dramatic comebacks seem to happen against everyone but the defending champs.
This game did Houston some good, too — sort of like the way a breath of fresh air revives a drowning man. Scorned and dismissed for weeks as serious Western Conference contenders, the Rockets accepted the league’s most arduous on- the- road challenge and did so with a powerful thirst, led by Harden’s 37 points.
“This is by far the best team in the NBA right now,” Houston head coach J. B. Bickerstaff said of the Warriors before the game. “They’re playing the best of anybody. We think we’ve got a good game plan in place. It’ll be a fun game.”
It took some soulsearching to reach that point. There was a stage in the first quarter in which Curry was 7- for- 7 from the floor while Harden was 0- for- 5. But when Houston took a 74- 69 lead in the third quarter, reducing the arena’s noise to a murmur, it seemed that high drama was at hand. A fleeting notion, to be sure.
This was the Warriors’ first game in the face of Festus Ezeli reality — out at least six weeks after knee surgery, perhaps not available until the playoffs — and Kerr played it close to the vest. Jason Thompson and Kevon Looney, the No. 1 draft choice everyone is eager to see, did not get off the bench. ( Kerr said that Looney, still getting in shape after hip surgery, is “healthy but not ready to play big minutes.”)
So it would be Bogut getting 29 typically rugged minutes in the paint, and he stated his case immediately with 3- for- 4 shooting, three steals and some formidable rim protection in the first quarter.
This is also a chance for Speights to resurrect the Mo Buckets style that made him such a favorite last season. Something of an afterthought under Luke Walton but prized by Kerr, he hit five of his nine shots and broke out a huge smile as he retreated on defense after burying a Curry- esque 28- footer.
Now it’s time to say goodbye to the Warriors, for a good long while. Warm up the TV sets and bust out the onion dip. In a scheduling quirk that hardly seems real, they won’t be back at Oracle until March 1.
After Wednesday night’s game at Phoenix and the All- Star break, the Warriors go on a six- game road trip through Portland, L. A. ( Clippers), Atlanta, Milwaukee, Orlando and Oklahoma City, including two back- to- backs.
“That’s just the way the schedule falls,” said Kerr, who will spend the break at home. “We all deal with it. We’ve played very well on the road, and hopefully we’ll be ready to roll. The All- Star break is coming at a good time, for our guys to rest and recharge.”
One good thing about the next three weeks: Nothing can touch the home winning streak. That “42- 0” will linger in the memory, and on the printed page, tormenting all those teams struggling to comprehend it.