How many times can I rewrite the same article this season? Let’s try this again. The Golden State Warriors start slow, stay close at halftime, then completely shut off the faucet and end the Orlando Magic in one 12-minute stanza. And all in the meantime, every single player up and down the roster made an impact. Steve Kerr’s vision three years ago when he took the reins has just about reached full form. Everyone playing well, happy, spreading the wealth, and ending in a complete 110-100 effort.
The Warriors turned the ball over a lot. Then the offense stalled when they were trying to overcompensate to protect themselves from mistakes. The other team came in and started scorching hot, giving them everything they had, trying to take a big lead. Then some combination of Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green’s revitalized three-point shooting kept them afloat.
Before the game, the Orlando Magic ranked second in 3rd quarter shooting percentage and points scored, behind the Warriors. 32-19. From Kevon Looney’s banketness on switching defense, David West’s rebounding, Shaun Livingston’s cutting, and attentive defensive effort, this was just another day at the park.
The 7-game win streak keeps stretching. And even though the Warriors haven’t beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs with Kawhi Leonard, or the Houston Rockets yet, it’s over. When they are able to understand there is no weakness on this team, there is no opponent close to their level on not one side of the ball, both on defense, their secret to the last 4 years of elite success.
Scary trend from this game? Kevon Looney is quickly playing himself into the poor man’s version of Draymond Green on defense in the way we thought Jordan Bell would. He also has good hands and is not afraid to go up and finish with a 7-feet wingspan (Draymond has exactly the same). Nick Young is now fully comfortable in the offensive scheme and adds lethal spacing with Kla on bench units. Speaking of bench units, David West keeps balling out, and with the bench squad now spreading the floor, his passing becomes even more of a weapon. Klay’s shooting is at an all-time high, and effort level as chill as his smile when he walked into the Speights-West scuffle. Patrick McCaw hasn’t even showed up yet.
And finally, Draymond Green is now shooting 38% from 3, the same he finished at in 2015-16, when the Warriors won 73 games. When he was often the second scoring option because teams doubled both Steph and Klay. Draymond is a top-10 because of his defense and ability to playmake. The Hamptons 5 only weakness is that two of the guys can get afraid to shoot at times. If Draymond has truly returned to 2015-16 levels, the NBA isn’t in trouble, it’s hopeless.