Because their 103-94 win over the Sacramento Kings was one of their weaker games this season, it’s quite remarkable to think as to how good the Golden State Warriors, with Stephen Curry as the vanguard, have become, and how difficult it is to beat them.
Think about it. They’re playing without Andrew Bogut. Their offense was way off the mark for large stretches of their visit to Sacramento. And still, Curry waking up in the second half, scoring 21 of his 24 points (only 2-for-10 from beyond the arc, six turnovers) was enough to carry them against a team in crisis.
It’s happening for a second straight season to the Kings. A good team, or at least a talented one, but a DeMarcus Cousins injury is too difficult for them to overcome, and might result in some major changes. They’re off to a 1-6 beginning, which might be a little misleading, but there’s definitely something wrong beyond the fact that they’re missing their starting star center. Turning the ball over 21 times and having Rajon Rondo shoot the ball 20 times is a recipe for a loss, even against the Brooklyn Nets, let alone the Warriors.
We couldn’t get our shots to go in tonight — it happens. But we found a way to grind it out. We had some wide open looks that wouldn’t go down. It was one of those random nights.
Rondo doing a good defensive job on Curry with those long arms and a little bit of motivation which is never a given when it comes to Rondo also helped keep the MVP and the hottest player in the NBA through seven games at normal level, not beyond that.
But the Kings ran out of gas in the end, while the Warriors, looking like one completely symbiotic unit, stopped making mistakes or at least paying for them. The first loss will happen at some point, but after a 7-0 start, their best start to the season since moving to the West Coast, it’s hard seeing where it ends. The franchise best is 9-0 by the Philadelphia Warriors from 1960-1961. The defending NBA champions not making it would be a surprise.