Even Draymond Green couldn’t believe how dominant Warriors were in blowing out Nuggets
As scintillating as the Golden State Warriors’ start to the season has been, the defending champs themselves haven’t been surprised by how good they’ve looked, even when blowing away the competition and coming back from double-digit deficits to depress future Hall of Famers. They firmly believe they’re even better than the team that stomped the league en route to the NBA championship last season, and thus far, with nightmare-inducing MVP Stephen Curry leading the way, there’s been no reason to disagree with that assessment.
[Play Yahoo Daily Fantasy and get a 100% deposit bonus with your first deposit]
And yet, even in the midst of confidently crushing the competition, you can sometimes wind up stunned by your own exploits. Case in point: check out Golden State power forward Draymond Green’s reaction to learning that the Dubs had rolled up a staggering 28 assists on 30 made first-half field goals — a franchise record for helpers by halftime — during Friday’s meeting with the woefully overmatched Denver Nuggets:
You can’t blame Green for being flabbergasted by the number. As Sports Illustrated’s Ben Golliver noted, two-thirds of NBA teams had yet to log a 28-assist game before Friday, and here were the Warriors, hitting that mark in 24 minutes of mystifying Michael Malone’s club.
The onslaught was on almost instantly on Friday, as Green (who finished with 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting, nine rebounds, eight assists and one block in 33 minutes) fed center Festus Ezeli for a dunk 14 seconds into the game. Just three minutes and 21 seconds into the game, Golden State had a double-digit lead; the Nuggets wouldn’t get any closer than 10 points for the final 40 minutes and eight seconds of the contest. The domination was total, and it was again led by Curry, who continues to detonate defenses with seemingly every arch of his eyebrow, shake of his shoulders and flick of his wrist:
Curry finished with 34 points on 12-for-22 shooting, including an 8-for-16 mark from 3-point range, to go with 10 assists, seven rebounds, three steals and a block in 34 1/2 minutes of work as the Warriors cruised to a 119-104 victory that wasn’t as close as that final indicates. Golden State finished with 40 team assists on 46 baskets to improve to 6-0 on the season; the Toronto Raptors’ five-point loss to the Orlando Magic leaves interim head coach Luke Walton’s club as the league’s last remaining unbeaten team. It’s the ninth time in franchise history that a Warriors team has logged 40 assists in a single game, and the first since April 1, 1994; the Warriors are also the first NBA team to drop 40 dimes this season.
As remarkable as Curry’s been, though, he hasn’t fueled the Warriors’ rise to the league’s top spot in offensive efficiency all by himself. (Golden State’s averaging 113.5 points per 100 possessions through six games, a full 6.1 points-per-100 above the second-place Oklahoma City Thunder; the gap between first and second is as large as the gap between second and 10th.) While the Warriors aren’t sharing the ball more than any other team, ranking ninth in the NBA in total passes per game, they’re doing so more effectively than anybody else.
[Follow Dunks Don’t Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]
Golden State ranks first in the league in all sorts of other passing categories, according to NBA.com’s SportVU player tracking data: assists per game, secondary or “hockey” assists per game, “potential assists” per game (passes by a player to a teammate that produce a shot that, if made, would result in an assist), points per game created by assist, and “adjusted assist-to-pass percentage.” That last one’s really cool, and telling — 13.2 percent of Golden State’s passes result in assists, hockey assists or “free-throw assists,” which are passes made to players who are fouled in the act and miss their shots but get points at the stripe.
Not only is the ball moving, but it’s just about always moving someplace dangerous and to someone who can make something happen with it. The primary beneficiary of all that defense-taxing motion on Friday night was the 26-year-old Ezeli, who continued to make noise on both ends of the floor in place of concussed starter Andrew Bogut, scoring a career-high 16 points on perfect 7-for-7 shooting to go with seven rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots in just 18 minutes of work:
The final pick of 2012’s first round, Ezeli missed nearly a season and a half with a right knee injury, but the Nigerian big man opened eyes down the stretch last season. He blocked 6.2 percent of opponents’ field goal attempts during his time on the floor — that would have tied Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans for the second-highest share of rejections in the league had he logged enough minutes to qualify — and played a major role during the Western Conference finals, leading some to wonder whether he’s got enough upside as a screener, pick-and-roll defender, rim protector and interior finisher in Golden State’s system to make him worth a major-money deal to serve as a post-Bogut plan in the middle.
Ezeli and the Warriors couldn’t reach an agreement on a contract extension before Monday’s deadline. If he keeps up his strong season-opening form — he’s averaging 10.3 points on 65.9 percent shooting, 6.2 rebounds, 1.8 blocks in 19.7 minutes per game, with opponents shooting a microscopic 34.7 percent at the basket when he’s defending — he could be in line for a monstrous raise in restricted free agency next summer.
In the shorter term, Ezeli could also wind up keeping his place in the Warriors’ starting lineup, similar to the one Green earned while starring in place of highly-paid veteran David Lee early last season. From Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com:
[…] it’s a decision worth considering when you factor in the intriguing possibility of a high IQ bench unit involving Bogut, Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala. Asked if Ezeli might retain the starting spot, interim coach Luke Walton said the following: “Festus is playing great. I haven’t really sat down to think about that, and that’s probably a discussion to have with Steve [Kerr] and the rest of the staff.”
Walton elaborated, “I would assume [Bogut] would be back in the starting lineup, but it might be one of those things where he hasn’t played in two weeks so we start Festus for a while and work him back into shape.”
This, of course, is an exceptionally high-class problem for the Warriors to consider.
Presuming Ezeli plays like this, the Warriors could probably win the title with either guy starting at C. I can’t believe I just typed that.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) November 7, 2015
… but that’s really the only kind of problem Golden State has right now.
Through six games, the Warriors have steamrolled opponents by a staggering 21.1 points per 100 possessions, more than twice as much as the second-place number turned in by LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers, and they’re doing it by getting stops, turning defense into offense, and getting by with a little help from their friends. From Carl Steward of the Bay Area News Group:
“When we play unselfish in a free-flowing game like that, we’re really tough to stop,” said Walton. “When everybody’s getting touches and open looks, then it makes you want to play harder and compete, because you’re out there having fun.”
All that fun can lead to some pretty eye-popping numbers. Just ask Draymond.
– – – – – – –
Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
Stay connected with Ball Don’t Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL, “Like” BDL on Facebook and follow Dunks Don’t Lie on Tumblr for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more.
