BOSTON — The Golden State Warriors will shut out a five-game highway journey this week towards the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder, the NBA’s three prime groups by means of three weeks.
“We’ll know if they’re for real after that,” a Celtics govt conceded earlier than the primary of these video games.
Take into account the primary check handed. Behind Stephen Curry’s excellence, a pair of Kevon Looney put-backs and a Buddy Hield dagger, the Warriors closed out a fourth quarter that featured 4 lead adjustments. The Warriors’ improved their file to 7-1, half a recreation higher than the defending champions.
“It’s a statement,” stated Hield, whose wide-open 3-pointer on a feed from Curry gave Golden State a 111-104 benefit with 47.2 seconds remaining. “If we don’t win this game, everybody’s like, ‘Oh, they didn’t play nobody.’ So you’ve gotta come make a statement on the road, right? That’s how the basketball world talks. They say if you haven’t played nobody yet, you get battle-tested, and you have to see if it’s real.”
A lot of the hype round Wednesday’s recreation pit Jayson Tatum reverse Steve Kerr, as if the Celtics star would possibly ship a message to the Warriors coach. Kerr benched Tatum for 2 video games on the Paris Olympics. You wouldn’t have recognized it — not less than after the TD Backyard crowd booed Kerr’s pregame introduction.
“From the beginning, the whole thing was, ‘We’re in this together. We’ve got 12 Hall of Famers, and we’re committed to winning,'” stated Kerr. “And we won the gold medal, so I don’t give it a whole lot of thought.”
In any other case, the 2022 NBA finalists went to work in an excellent basketball recreation. One level separated them to begin the fourth quarter. Derrick White’s seventh 3 of the night time gave the Celtics a 95-88 edge halfway by means of the ultimate body, after which what Hield described as “championship habits” took over. The Warriors scored on their subsequent seven possessions, together with all 10 of Curry’s fourth-quarter factors, to seal the deal.
“Normal Steph,” joked Looney.
It’s too early — and possibly too far-fetched — to think about the Warriors a severe title contender once more. Curry is 36 years previous. Draymond Inexperienced is 34. Klay Thompson is gone, and in his place is a set of proficient gamers, none of whom is a future Corridor of Famer, most of whom Kerr remains to be attempting to kind out.
Even Curry isn’t taking pictures for his fifth championship at this second. After failing to make the playoffs final season for the third time in 5 years, he and the Warriors are first looking for relevancy once more.
“We haven’t done anything yet,” he stated. “A good team, or a relevant team, wins the games they’re supposed to win, steals a couple on the road against good teams and protects home-court. We’ve done those things so far, but we have two more games on this road trip — two tough tests. …
“I like the place we’re, clearly, however an extended solution to go.”
What gave Curry pause in that response was Golden State’s deep rotation, something he described as uncomfortable. He does not know who will be contributing on a nightly basis; he just knows they have to.
“Till confirmed in any other case, that is how we’ve got to play,” said Curry. “Coach has talked about it till he is blue within the face already. Each apply, each movie session, each pregame speak, it is the identical message. It is who we’re proper now; it is who we’ve got to be. You clearly know because the season goes on rotations get tighter.”
It is working, though, especially on defense. The Warriors held Boston to a season-low 40 first-half points, sending waves of defenders at the Celtics. Gary Payton II likened Kerr’s 11-man rotation to a line change in hockey. “A number of recent legs,” he said, most of which were directed at Tatum. The Celtics star saw two defenders for most of the night, finishing with 32 points but just two assists to four turnovers. It did not help that Boston was without his co-star, Jaylen Brown, whose hip injury has listed him as day-to-day.
“Clearly Boston was with out Jaylen Brown and [Kristaps] Porzingis, so this isn’t the most effective model of their group,” conceded Kerr, “however they’re nonetheless rattling good. It is a hell of a win in a tricky surroundings.”
Golden State’s defense is now rated second in the NBA behind the Thunder, allowing 103.5 points per 100 possessions. That recipe — stout defense, full of energy, surrounding one Stephen Curry — is one that should win a lot of regular-season games. It has won five straight. Cleveland and Oklahoma City await.
“It was an ideal check,” Curry said from Boston. “We have not executed a rattling factor, however it felt good.”
