The Warriors Come Out To Play!
To say that the Warriors are off to a good start to the season is a pretty big understatement. In a lot of the preseason ranking that we all saw floating around the internet, you would see the Warriors in everyone’s top 5, but a lot of people were already saying that they would drop off this year, and we would see teams like OKC and Houston taking those top spots.
It might be early days, but through the first four games of the season, the Warriors have already pushed past a total winning margin of 100 points, which tops the Celtics as the highest total winning margin through four games in NBA history. Not only have they beaten than long standing record, but they have embarrassed Houston and Memphis in the process.
Heading into game five of the year, the Warriors faced a red hot Clippers team who were also coming into the game with a 4-0 record, and we were excited about the prospect of having a game on our hands. After containing the Warriors during the first term, with the help of some foul trouble for Curry, the Clippers lost their way in the second quarter paving the way for another big run from the Warriors. But unlike the past few games, the Clippers stuck with them, and in the fourth came strong getting out to a 10-point lead and pushing the Warriors for the first time this season.
As expected, Curry and his chargers put in a huge last eight minutes of the game, and in front of a deafening crowd, lit up the court and ran all over the Clippers. However, with Chris Paul putting up 24 points, and Blake Griffin adding 23, The Clippers put together a solid game and showed that they are going to be making a serious run at the title this season.
The leader on this Golden State team has obviously been Stephen Curry. As we have all seen over the past week, he has defied his critics and taken his game to another level, which is ridiculous to every think about. Not since a man wearing a red and white jersey with the number 23 slapped on his back has anyone got off to as good a start to any season as Curry in the history of the league. Even after a slow start tonight Curry managed to add 31 points, including 21 from long range, and was a key in closing out the game when the pressure was on.
Doc Rivers had this to say about Curry: “Clearly he’s better. One of the things I thought he saw, at least I saw in the playoffs watching him, was that the last two rounds, people were starting to switch a lot and I think he felt like that was something he needed to work on, and he has. I was hoping he’d be on a championship celebration all summer and he’s been working on his game, that’s too bad for all of us.”
It’s not fair to say that everything the Warriors have done this season is due to Curry playing like he’s in a video game. With minimal changes to the roster, this team has only gelled further and we are starting to see the Warriors second team become more prominent. Festus Ezeli has doubled his box score averages since last season, and put up a contender for block of the year tonight. Stepping up in the absence of Andrew Bogut who has been out due to concussion, Ezeli is fast becoming a fan favorite and establishing himself as a dominant big man in this league.
“Festus was awesome. He was great tonight, he was physical, he was finishing at the rim, he was challenging. It’s not an easy thing to see Blake Griffin go to the ring, and then try to go up and block his shot, so Festus was great for us tonight,” said Warriors interim coach Luke Walton.
There is no doubt that this Warriors team is going to be still playing basketball deep into the playoffs this season, the question now is, how many more records can the break along the way?
Feature Image: Getty Images