Warriors:
Stephen Curry and Golden State roll into the All- Star break with an easy 112- 104 win in Phoenix.
PHOENIX — The amazing surfers will be riding big waves out at Mavericks, but none of the waves will be as big as the one the Warriors are riding now.
The Warriors dispatched the Suns 112- 104 on Wednesday night to bump their record to 48- 4, the best start in NBA history. It was the first game of a seven- game Warriors road trip. The next six will be played after the Stephen Curry Extravaganza, formerly known as the NBA All- Star break.
Like the surfing heroes at Mavericks, the Warriors aren’t performing so much for the ultimate trophy as they are playing it for the moment, for the sheer thrill and joy of doing the impossible.
All the talk about chasing the Chicago Bulls’ 72- 10 record, about Curry’s MVP run, about Draymond Green’s emergence, is lost on the Warriors on all but a superficial level.
They’re caught up in now, slicing down the face of a colossal wave.
“We don’t embrace” the chase of the Bulls’ record, Green said. “We don’t talk about that at all.”
Green then gave the cliche thing about how the only real goal is an NBA championship. No question. But the championship is a faraway goal. What the Warriors embrace is the moment — this game, this play. The result is dazzling. “It’s the greatest show right now in sports,” said Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald after the game. “You don’t see that kind of selflessness at this level. They don’t really care who gets off. ... You watch them play, what they’re doing is unprecedented.”
The flip side of that team- ness was on display in the first quarter, when the Suns’ Markieff Morris and Archie Goodwin got into a shoving match at the Suns’ bench. It was a brief scuffle, but dramatic.
Interim coach Earl Watson chalked it up to Morris trying to motivate Goodwin, two good friends having a moment.
The Warriors don’t have those moments. They just keep winning. Steve Kerr gave Wednesday’s overall effort a soso, but hitting the break at 48- 4? Is that satisfying?
“Satisfying is not the word,” Kerr said. “It’s shocking. Nobody’s ever done it, right? Speaks to the talent and the chemistry of the players.”
The Phoenix fans didn’t see so- so. They saw showtime. By the end of the third quarter, the Warriors had a 16point lead. Curry had 26 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and a dozen jaw- dropping thrills.
Curry continues to blur the line between getting it done and putting on a show. Sometimes a behind- the- back pass is the best way to get the ball to his target, and sometimes it’s the best way to get the fans — and his teammates and himself — geeked up. Curry knows the value of both.
Kerr, one night after suffering headaches after the Warriors’ win in Oakland, talked about the fragility of it all, something he doesn’t think his players think about.
He said the Warriors aren’t afraid to chase the old Bulls, but, “I am. I just know how fragile it is, and how quickly that whole thing can vanish, and I’m not really concerned about ( the record), to be honest with you. Our goal is to win the championship and defend our title.
“Having said that, it’s fun to win.”
Kerr, whose comeback from back surgery and debilitating headaches remains a work in progress, said he knows there are games this season the Warriors could have lost, but for a break or a bounce. So he won’t sweat the record.
Record or not, what everybody’s talking about is the Warriors.
When you watch them up close, from a courtside seat, you realize that the Warriors aren’t playing for records or even for eventual titles. They’re just playing.
At the All- Star break, the Warriors are clearly superior to last season’s team.
“Oh, yeah,” said Klay Thompson, enjoying a postgame snack. “I think we are ( better), definitely, no question. ( Pause.) God, this macaroni’s good!”