Down eight at halftime and down nine in the fourth quarter to a Brooklyn Nets team that came into Chase Center with one of the worst records in the NBA, the Golden State Warriors looked like a squad still jet-lagged from everything the road took from them. The Dubs coughed up twenty-six turnovers and this looked like a bad loss brewing to a tanking team.
And then Gui Santos decided he didn’t care about any of that.
The 23-year-old finished with 31 points on 11-of-16 shooting, a career statement carved out against a legitimately bad team, yes, but carved out nonetheless. When a young player finds that kind of rhythm, the opponent’s record becomes irrelevant. Santos was locked in.
The fourth quarter told the real story. Brooklyn tied the game 106-106 with under a minute left, Ben Saraf’s driving dunk over Draymond Green threatening to turn a sloppy Warriors performance into a loss nobody could explain away. Then De’Anthony Melton, who finished with 14 points and 9 rebounds, stepped to the line and hit the go-ahead free throw. Melton stopped Saraf on the next possession and Green, ice in his veins at the line down the stretch, sealed it at 109-106. That closing sequence was Warriors basketball at its most essential: survive the mess you made, close it with character.
Two wins in a row. First game back home after a road trip that tested this team’s identity at every stop.
Here’s the real concern the scoreboard can’t hide, though. Twenty-six turnovers against a 17-56 team is not a footnote; I see it as more of a flashing warning light. The Warriors gave up 28 points off those turnovers. Against a playoff contender, this game isn’t close at the end. That number needs to get addressed in practice, in film, in conversation, because the schedule doesn’t stay this forgiving.
But tonight, Chase Center got its team back. Santos gave them a reason to be loud. Sometimes winning ugly is exactly what a team healing from the road needs most.
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