Everyone keeps waiting for the Golden State Warriors to slow down and start losing some games. Meanwhile, they keep breaking NBA records, and making Phoenix Suns players start fights on the bench.
And while the basketball the Warriors are playing can be breathtaking at times, from the way they free up shooters for open threes based on ball movement and defenses getting completely tied up and confused in how to slow down Stephen Curry, thinking about how easy it might be for them in the playoffs if they’re completely healthy is a slightly depressing thought considering it wasn’t that difficult for them (five losses all postseasons) in 2015 on their way to the title.
And yes, with a Warriors win, especially against the broken Phoenix Suns, not being much of a new maker these days, it was Archie Goodwin and Markieff Morris (surprising, right?) going at each other on the bench the highlight of the game. Not the Curry and Klay Thompson combo hitting 10 three pointers en route to 50 combined points, with Curry missing a triple double by one rebound and one assist, in another easy win that wasn’t even a very good game from the defending NBA champions.
The Warriors might have had some trouble brushing off the Oklahoma City Thunder last weekend, but the blows they dealt to the Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs with 30-point plus wins has ended questions and doubts for now. Not just about who the best team in the league is, but about their place in history. It doesn’t really matter if Jordan’s Bulls would beat them. The Warriors seem more and more like a team that won’t be denied on their way to winning at least 73 games this season.
They’ve won 11 straight, including going 24-0 at home, and not losing a single game against divisional opponents. Their +12.5 scoring differential is a bit behind the Spurs, but we saw how much that means, especially with the Warriors having so many games they bench their best players and enter garbage time way before the third quarter is over, which might hurt their stats, but it promotes fake hope that someone out there might actually be better than them.
Once the All-Star break is over, it’s going to be back to business as usual. The first 52 games of the season have proven a few things and destroyed some theories developed after the ending of last season. One injury or the other isn’t going to destroy this team from within, at least not in the regular season. A bad shooting night from Curry isn’t going to slow this team down, only slightly dent its efforts. There isn’t a perfect player on this team, but the combination of this group, that does include one former number one overall pick but not a single player experts predicted to be some of the best in the NBA, is producing historically good basketball, and for those who like to see things written on a stat sheet and in the record books, the best win-loss record in NBA history up to this point of the season.