Watershed moment for 202021 season
As the fourth quarter started Friday night, Warriors forward Draymond Green sat on the bench, grinning as he bobbed his head to the hiphop music thumping through the Chase Center loudspeakers.
Twelve minutes remained in Golden State’s 130121 win over the Hornets, but Green had reason to revel in the moment: In just three quarters, he had already delivered one of the most memorable performances of his NBA career, posting his franchise-high 25th tripledouble as he propelled the Warriors to a 19point lead.
Just six days after his late ejection helped doom Golden State to a loss in Charlotte, Green was the driving force behind a win over those same Hornets. It marked the first time this season that the Warriors had won three games in a row. Each of those victories came against playoff hopefuls, which has many in the organization believing that Golden State has finally had the breakthrough head coach Steve Kerr forecasted for weeks.
Over the season’s first two months, the Warriors often exhibited teamwork and flow one game, only to struggle with nagging issues — botched boxouts, slow defensive rotations, silly fouls — their next time out. But a week shy of the AllStar break, Golden State is beginning to show some consistency as it channels the movementheavy, defensiveminded style that defined its recent dynasty.
Until the latter stages, when the Warriors let the Hornets back within striking distance, Friday’s win offered a blueprint for how Golden State wants to play every game. In nearconstant motion, the
Warriors turned down good shots for great ones, piling up 38 assists as they shot (60.8%) from the field (45.8%) from 3point range.
Kelly Oubre Jr., who has been the Warriors’ most reliable offensive player in February after a trying start to the season, finished with 27 points on 11for15 shooting (3for6 from 3point range). His six firstquarter dunks helped Golden State seize an early lead, and his two fourthquarter 3pointers helped his team polish off the victory.
After deferring to Oubre and Green much of the game, guard Stephen Curry hit timely shots when it mattered most —including four free throws in the waning seconds — to finish with a gamehigh 29 points and nine assists. Five other Golden State players scored between 10 and 17 points.
The egalitarian approach was rooted largely in Green’s brilliance. When he’s at his best, he is ratcheting up the tempo, barking out reads, and finding teammates on low-angle leading passes, weakside lobs and quick swing passes. On Friday, Green was fully engaged from the opening tipoff, joining Russell Westbrook (2019) as the only NBA players over the past 25 seasons with seven rebounds and seven assists in the first quarter.
Most of those early assists came on Oubre dunks. The Hornets looked vexed as Green sifted out holes in their defense, lacing passes to a cutting Oubre in transition.
Late in the third quarter, when Green found center James Wiseman for an alleyoop dunk, he registered his careerhigh 17th assist. To go along with his 11 points and 12 rebounds, Green finished with 19 assists — the most by a Warriors player since Baron Davis dished out 19 on Jan. 11, 2018 against Memphis.
Green’s four 15assist games in February are the most by a Golden State player in a calendar month since Tim Hardaway in April 1990. Well aware of how he’s feeling in his ninth NBA season, Green predicted weeks ago that he’d soon maximize his abilities.
That time appears to have arrived, which is a big reason the Warriors finally have a threegame win streak. The question now is how many more victories Green and Golden State can string together.