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For a moment, Monday night’s game in Brooklyn threatened to unravel just like so many others have for the Warriors this season.
Heavy legs, turnovers starting to pile up, a clutch situation on the verge of teetering.
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But the Warriors avoided another choke with their defense. De’Anthony Melton blocked a 3-point attempt and leaked out for a layup. On the very next possession, Will Richard nabbed a steal at halfcourt and took it uncontested for a jam.
The Warriors (17-16), a night after running out of gas in overtime against Toronto, escaped with a 120-107 win over a deceptively difficult Nets team. Golden State went for it on the second end of its back-to-back, opting to play all three of its veteran stars.
Steve Kerr’s team entered Monday 6-11 in clutch games. The night before, the Raptors erased a double-digit deficit to send the game to overtime, where they outscored the fatigued Warriors 19-5.
Waiting for the Warriors were the Nets, who won seven of their prior 10 games and entered Monday’s game with the NBA’s best defensive rating in the month of December.
Terance Mann’s foul shots pushed the Brooklyn game into clutch territory, inching the Nets within four with 2:32 left. Just two minutes earlier, the Warriors claimed what should’ve been a commanding 12-point lead.
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Friday, Dec. 19
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Tuesday, Dec. 16
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Instead of folding like they did in Toronto, Golden State dialed up its defense.
In the fourth quarter, the Warriors held the Nets to 6-for-19 (31.6%) shooting from the floor and forced five turnovers. Just two of Michael Porter Jr.’s 27 points came in the final frame.
“Activity,” Melton said postgame. “I think we kind of locked in on a game plan. We kind of understood what they had going on from the last three quarters, so we just locked in.”
Source: NBA.com
Source: NBA.com
Kerr deployed a 13-man rotation against the Nets, knowing he had to take some pressure off Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green. They played 41, 37, and 33 minutes the night prior. But to roll with Richard and Melton in the closing lineup was notable — and shrewd.
Those wings stole Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski’s minutes. Kerr’s job with so many role players of similar caliber is to sense who does and doesn’t have it going on a given night. He pulled the plug on Moody after he started 1-for-8 and felt that Richard could make more of an impact defensively in crunchtime than Podziemski.
Earlier in the game, Kerr made a similar move in the frontcourt, yanking starter Quinten Post after five minutes for Trayce Jackson-Davis (11 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block), who had more energy after sitting out the Toronto game.
Although the Warriors like their current rotation pattern, they still don’t have a set closing lineup. Two slots are up for grabs. Melton and Richard, part of a bench brigade that outscored Brooklyn’s reserves 58 to 27, grabbed them on Monday.
The Warriors won Melton’s minutes by 26 and Richard’s by 22. They each snagged two steals, using their active hands against shaky Brooklyn ballhandlers.
Golden State finishes its road trip on New Year’s Eve in Charlotte. Perhaps the Nets game was simply a way for the Warriors to get a jump start on their 2026 resolution of cleaning up their late-and-close execution.
Notable
The Nets game marked assistant coach Chris DeMarco’s last as a Warrior. The longest-tenured coach on Kerr’s bench, DeMarco will officially start his new job as the New York Liberty head coach in 2026. The Warriors toured his new office pregame and gave him the game ball. (opens in new tab)
Jonathan Kuminga was the only active Warrior not to touch the floor in the win over Brooklyn. He’s eligible to be traded on Jan. 15.
Kerr said he likes playing Butler in lineups with four bench players because it forces him to be less deferential offensively. One successful example against Brooklyn featured Butler next to Pat Spencer, Melton, Richard, and Jackson-Davis.