The Golden State Warriors returned home to Chase Center after a successful road trip to face off against former Warrior Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns. It also marked the return of Gary Payton II, who when he entered the game, immediately lit up the fans with his first basket being a resounding dunk! Payton II ended the game with a very crucial 11 points. Draymond Green also had a great game, navigating the defense, while scoring 15 points himself. Both teams played a solid, entertaining game, and at the end, it was Steph Curry with the buzzer-beating 3-pointer to win a stunner over the Suns, 113-112.
With coach Steve Kerr attending Deki Milojevic's memorial service in Serbia, Golden State travelled to Utah to face the Jazz in the first of two meetings between the two teams this week, and it was a Dubs night, with eight players scoring in double figures, Draymond and Kuminga playing a solid defense, Curry dropping threes late in the game, finishing with this third double/double of the season 26 points and 10 rebounds, and Klay Thompson lighting up with 26 points as Golden State won, 129-107 and continues the winning streak up to five games. Trayce Jackson-Davis came off the bench in the 2nd half to give Steph and Klay some rest and scored 11 points, four rebounds and one blocked shot as he pestered the Utah defense! Keep staying ready, TJD! The Warriors came home to Chase Center on Wednesday to face one of the hottest teams in the NBA, the LA Clippers, and it was a fast and furious game for about 45 minutes, then collapsed offensively and defensively in the fourth quarter as the Clippers scored 44 points, the 2nd most the Warriors have given up, and this helped the Clippers end the Warriors five game losing streak and won the game, 130-125. Bright spots were Curry making NBA history as the first player to make seven 3-pointers in four games in a row, and Podz dropping five three-pointers and had his highest scoring game in his rookie year with 25 points.
Golden State then immediately flew from San Francisco to Utah to play the Jazz again for the makeup game that was postponed from earlier this year. Jet-lag was apparent from the start for the Dubs, as midway thru the first quarter, they were down 30-19, but then they found their second wind and the 1st quarter ended with the Jazz up three, 39-36, with Klay Thompson coming off the bench to jump-start the scoring. That Dubs scoring hot streak continued as the Dubs scored 48 points in the second, and led at half-time, 84-71. Some key half-time stats: Klay, coming off the bench, lead the scoring with 17 points, he and four other Warriors were already in double-digits, the 3 pointers were raining down in Salt Lake, with the Dubs at 15 of 26 and the Jazz at 14 of 28! Golden State also had one of their best season high over field goal percentages at the half, shooting at an eye-popping 62 percent. And Curry only had nine points in the half. In the third quarter, Klay lit it up, with 18 points, and good thing he did, as the Jazz continued to drop the threes, but closed it out with a 120-102 lead heading onto the 4th quarter. And the bottom dropped out for the Dubs, as the Jazz out-scored the Dubs, 40-32 in the 4th, and did not make a field goal in the last four minutes, and the Jazz set a new franchise record with 22 three pointers (Dubs had 20), and Utah out-scored the Warriors on points off of turnovers, 29-12, an area that needs to be cleaned up. The Warriors, with all those stats against them, won this nail-biter, 140-137, giving coach Steve Kerr his 500th career win, and a happy flight home as the NBA All-Star weekend starts. Due to the All-Star Break, there will be no Dubs round-up for a couple of weeks. It will be a busy one when it we return!
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