Less than 24 hours after wrapping up a game in Memphis, the Warriors tipped off against the upstart T-wolves at the Target Center. Golden State showed little signs of fatigue early as they jumped out to a 40-27 first quarter lead. The Dubs stretched the lead up to 21, but credit the Wolves for a spirited comeback — led by veterans Andre Miller and Kevin Martin — that brought the score all the way back to within six. Having seen enough, Luke Walton made the coaching move of the year and inserted Stephen Curry back in the lineup (after his usual 4th quarter rest). With their captain back, the Warriors were able to cruise home and improve their record to a franchise-best 10-0.
1) Is National-TV Steph a thing? He had 40 on opening night on TNT; a go-ahead three and 31 against the Clippers on ESPN; and tonight he dropped 21 in the first, 46 for the game, and a pair of vine-worthy threes while Chuck and Kenny recapped from Atlanta. The rest of the league might want to watch out: the Warriors are on national TV 25 times this season, the maximum allowed.
2) The Wolves are going to be good. They have two foundational soon-to-be superstars, a pass-first point guard, and a nice mix of veteran leaders to help guide the youngsters. Judging by tonight, Minnesota could at least make it interesting for the last playoff spot in the West this season. It’s too bad the man who built the whole thing won’t be there to see Team Future grow. RIP, Flip.
3) One of the reasons Curry’s scoring average has been so high this year is simply because he’s been taking more threes. In 2014-2015, Curry had 8.1 three-point attempts per game in the regular season before boosting that number to 11 attempts in the playoffs. Through ten games this year, Steph is attempting 11 triples a contest with 4.7 makes. I’m not sure why it took until year-7 for him to start launching threes at this pace, but I’m glad we’re here. Three pointers are good because three points are better than two points. It’s a bonus point. It’s like coming home from the drive-thru and seeing three tacos when you only paid for two.
4) Anthony Davis’ numbers from his rookie year: 13.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, 52% FG. Kevin Garnett’s age-19 season: 17 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, 50% FG. Karl-Anthony Towns: 16.1 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, 49% FG. He’s 19 years old. There’s no way this guy isn’t a top-5 center in two years. He can already do everything.
5) Zach Lavine’s fruitless drives to the rim remind me of 2012-2013’s #Klayups.
6) I remember three years ago I used to watch Steph take those silly underhanded flips and scoops in the lane after a couple of fancy dribble moves and wonder what on earth he was doing. Now he’s making those shots casually to end a half. Dude is a magician.
7) Jason Richardson was a great dunker. Vince Carter was an ALL-TIME great dunker. One difference being that while JRich was “limited” as a two-foot jumper, VC had more versatility and could leap off one or two feet, giving his dunks more variation. That’s what I thought about watching Andrew Wiggins. Harrison Barnes is a superb athlete — the best the Warriors have. But Wiggins’ athleticism is otherworldly. He can go north to south, left to right and spin in circles before throwing one down over a big man. Severely underrated move to get him for Kevin Love.
8) The Ian-Clark-as-rotation-cog era may still need more time to develop. He came in, dropped two threes, lost Andre Miller on a backdoor cut, and was not heard from again. This was all in 4 minutes. Still, a backup two that can space the floor for 8 minutes a night and not kill the team on D might be all the Warriors need.
9) After the Memphis game, Bogut had some encouraging things to say about his current role off the bench. Paraphrasing: he trusts the coaching staff’s decisions and will play any role to help the team win. Someone please give him the inaugural David Lee Award for “most professional teammate” and “saying things the media will love.” The man is savvy on and off the court.
10) You know who probably loves all the national chatter about the Warriors’ hot start and trying to win 70 games? The Spurs who are beating teams by a point differential of 10.2 points a night, 0.1 points better than last year’s historically great Warriors.
You know probably doesn’t give a rat’s a$$ about the Warriors hot start and trying to win 70 games? Greg Popovich, and his team.
Couldn’t agree more. They get to continue to quietly hum along blasting the league while all attention centers on GS. It’s how the Spurs machine likes it.