The Golden State Warriors aren’t stopping, even when it’s Klay Thompson that takes control while Stephen Curry unselfishly takes a backseat in the best show we’ve seen in the NBA in who know how long.
The Warriors improved to 23-0 after a wild 131-123 win over the Indiana Pacers. Klay Thompson scored 39 points, including 10 three-pointers (becomes just the third player in NBA history with multiple games of 10 3-pointers or more), eight of them in the first quarter, which included a 22-0 run that made the Pacers chase Golden State for the entire night. Like everyone before them in the last 27 games, they failed, as the Warriors zoom in on the Lakers 33-consecutive win streak record.
The Warriors are now judged only by history. They haven’t lost a game in which they’ve led by 15 points or more 76 times. As impossible to reach as it seemed for so long, the Warriors simply look unbeatable. On an unremarkable night, Curry finished with 29 points and almost a triple double. The team’s most important player, Draymond Green, had possibly his worst game of the season, and it didn’t budge the Warriors one bit. We wrote earlier about momentums in regards to LeBron James and the Cavaliers. The Warriors have crunch time moments in which they assault from every possible direction. First quarter or fourth, opponents are beaten to a pulp and are unable to reply until it’s too late.
Maybe there are egos and selfishness behind the scenes, but we’re not seeing them. And it doesn’t matter who gets the credit. Jerry West, the ownership, Steve Kerr, Luke Walton, the players. This is a composite that the NBA hasn’t seen in a very long time, maybe in all of its history. The Warriors have just one championship so far and yes, that “luck” thing people keep talking about has been a factor. But so what? They’re still doing something that has never been done, and might be on their way (although it’s still a very long way) to being the greatest team the sport of basketball has ever seen, only without being presumptuous about it, so far.