For the first time in more than two months, the Golden State Warriors have won three games in a row. That comes on the heels of winning two games in a row (as tends to happen), which was their first time doing that in … yep … also more than two months. In fact, the last time the Warriors had a winning streak at all was when Jimmy Butler III was playing … he got injured in their fourth consecutive victory, and until now, they hadn’t strung together multiple victories in a row.
But now they have. The Warriors beat the Washington Wizards 131-126 on Friday night, in a battle of teams missing their stars. Butler and Steph Curry were, once again, absent for the Dubs, while Anthony Davis and Trae Young were nowhere to be found for the Wizards.
The Warriors won the game in the first quarter, and then spent the rest of the contest trying not to throw it away. From the opening tip, the Dubs were playing inspired basketball. They were energetic but controlled on the offensive side, traits that would carry them far — more on that in a second.
It was a total team effort as far as moving the ball, but a one-man show when it came to putting the ball in the bucket, as Kristaps Porziņģis scored the first 11 points of the game for the Warriors. While the energy and ball movement were nice, the Warriors offense went cold after Porziņģis’ hot start, but thanks to their dominant defense, they still held a 15-4 advantage, and were in total control of the game.
But it was kind of funny to watch. The Warriors were out-executing the Wizards, but they also kept missing a lot of easy shots at the rim. At one point the lead ballooned to 22-8, yet it felt like it should have been 40-8. It was both an inspiring performance and a fairly frustrating one.
As Steve Kerr shifted things to his bench, the energy maintained — or perhaps even rose a level. Pat Spencer in particular controlled the quarter for the Warriors off the pine, as the team continued to be in control. Bub Carrington kept Washington afloat, but no one else on the Wizards could score, and the Dubs held a 38-25 advantage after the first quarter.
So, about that aforementioned control. To the shock of everyone — Bob Fitzgerald and Kelenna Azubuike refused to speak of it on the broadcast, treating it like a no-hitter — the Warriors made it through the entirety of the first quarter without committing a single turnover. They had passed the ball around brilliantly and quickly, resulting in 11 assists, but hadn’t turned the ball over.
The 38-point quarter and 13-point lead served as testaments to how well Golden State can function when they simply take care of the basketball, regardless of personnel. The rest of the game served as a painful reminder as to what happens when they don’t.
Naturally, the Warriors turned the ball over on the first possession of the second quarter, committing their first of 12 turnovers on the night. It was a much, much sloppier quarter for Golden State, though they offered up a second reminder: hot shooting can mask most sins (except, you know, the moral kinds).
While the Warriors executed less effectively and efficiently in the second quarter, the threes started to rain in. A telling sequence occurred late in the quarter, when the Warriors were losing momentum and leaking oil. Kerr called a timeout, and ran an ATO for LJ Cryer, who drained a triple. Two possessions later, he sank another, and suddenly the Warriors lead was 15 points.
At the half, they led 72-60, and the story was entirely the shooting. They had gone a brilliant 12-for-24 from beyond the arc, while the Wizards had shot just 7-for-22. That was the difference in the game.
The Wizards found their three ball in the halftime locker rooms, though. They came out in the third quarter firing, draining three after three, pulling within a possession less than three minutes into the frame, and forcing a Kerr timeout. From there, the life was sucked out of the offense for both teams. Golden State continued to play with good energy — as did Washington — but neither team could score.
Soon the lead was entirely gone, though, but the Dubs responded well on both ends of the court. The Wizards were unfazed, however, and immediately struck back. With 1:36 left in the quarter, they took their first lead since 2-0, and held a 94-92 advantage entering the final frame. Things were no longer looking rosy.
But the Dubs completely locked down on defense in the final quarter. Their offense could not match that, and you could sense frustration up and down the lineup as they could rarely get clean looks, and couldn’t capitalize on the rare opportunities that they did.
There’s something to be said for sticking with it, though, and stick with it they did. Powered by yet another brilliant fourth quarter performance from Gui Santos, the Warriors finally turned their energy and effort into productivity. After a few minutes of treading water, the Dubs rattled off an 11-2 run around the midway point in the quarter, turning a two-possession deficit into a two-possession lead.
From there, they never looked back. They weren’t able to run away with the game, but they maintained control the rest of the way, always keeping the Wizards at bay. Washington kept pushing, but the Warriors kept responding, and even without their best players, felt firmly in control until the final buzzer signaled a 131-126 victory.
Porziņģis and Santos were the stars, though it was a balanced attack. The former finished with a game-high 28 points, with eight rebounds and three assists, while shooting 9-for-17 from the field and 5-for-11 from deep. Santos had an extremely efficient 27 points (8-for-12 shooting, 3-for-5 threes, and 8-for-9 free throws), while contributing four rebounds and four assists. Brandin Podziemski was dynamic, with 22 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, and two steals, and coming up with big plays at every turn. Draymond Green paced the team-oriented offense, with 10 of the team’s 32 assists.
Ultimately, the areas where the Warriors had built their lead ended up equalizing with the Wizards, which explains the close score. Despite the careful first quarter, the Warriors committed 12 turnovers while forcing 13. And in spite of the ultra-hot second quarter, they ended the day shooting 19-for-44 from deep, compared to a nearly-identical 18-for-42 from Washington.
But most importantly, they ended up with a 131 in the score column, while ceding a smaller number.
The Dubs improved to 36-38 on the season, and got some help in the standings with the Dallas Mavericks beating the Portland Trail Blazers, who are now just a half-game ahead of the Warriors. The LA Clippers, however, won their game. And things don’t get easier for Golden State: their next game is Sunday night, on the road, against the Denver Nuggets.
We’ll see if they can shock us all with a fourth-straight W.
See More: