The Golden State Warriors go into a Christmas Day showdown with the Denver Nuggets riding high on a five game winning streak. Riding on the play of the usual suspects, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson have stepped up their game as well on this run, but the young guns have added a spark to the team to ride this winning streak.
Brandin Podziemski (Podz), Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and Trayce Jackson-Davis have stepped up in the loss of Draymond Green and Gary Payton II, contributing valuable minutes off the bench. Podz has worked himself onto the starting lineup, as has Kuminga, and with Podz becoming the master of the offensive charge (stand there and get run over by the opposing player), and great court presence, Podz has been adding crucial points and assists. Kuminga's game has stepped up of late; besides his tight defense on the opposing team, Kuminga has gotten more aggressive in the paint, giving the Dubs a much needed presence around the rim (some of his slam dunks are boomers!). Jackson-Davis has only recently joined the party but what an impression he has made in the last two weeks: two double-doubles (points/rebounds), highlight reel blocks, and just tenacious energy on the court. Trayce's minutes have and will definitely increase if he keeps this kind of play up! That leaves us with the Splash Brothers, Curry and Thompson. Curry recently had his three-point-shot, consecutive-game record snapped at 268; still by far the most by any NBA player in history. He started a new streak in the following game! :) Thompson's shooting had been cold to start the season, but in the last several games, Klay has averaged 20 points a game, and seems to have quieted the Klay haters for now.
Golden State has had one of the toughest NBA schedules to start the season, but now they have 11 of 13 games at home, and now is a good time to right the ship. It looks like the team has found its groove heading into Denver for a Christmas Day showdown against the NBA defending champion Nuggets.
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