Warriors blow 23-point lead, reassert control quickly for 50th win
The Golden State Warriors came into Monday night’s game at the Atlanta Hawks holding one of the more amazing statistics in recent NBA history — a run of 100 straight wins in games during which they’ve led by 15 points or more. Perhaps the rest of the league should hold onto its double-digit leads more often, but it’s still a remarkable run when so many opponents are capable of comebacks. Even the best teams around screw up sometimes, but the Warriors somehow do not.
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The Atlanta Hawks tried really, really hard to end that 15-points-or-more winning streak at Philips Arena. Down 30-15 after one quarter and 70-47 with just under 19 minutes remaining in regulation, the Hawks closed the third quarter on a 30-9 run to cut the deficit to a mere two points. Atlanta started the final period strong, as well, leading as late as the 8:30 mark to put a serious scare into the visitors. The Hawks’ excellent stretch saw them attack the basket, force the Warriors into suboptimal shots, and generally make the defending champions look disengaged and eminently beatable. With Dennis Schröder and Al Horford leading the way, they looked capable of handing Golden State its sixth loss.
It may not surprise you to learn that the Warriors re-asserted control rather quickly. Buoyed by a stellar defensive showing from Andrew Bogut, who picked up three blocks (of his five total) and a steal in the fourth, the Warriors closed the contest on a 21-10 advantage to pull out a comfortable-seeming 102-92 win.
The Warriors now have 50 wins in 55 games, the fastest run to 50 in league history. They also sit a game ahead of the pace set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls in their 72-win season.
It’s been said often that the Warriors will need to remain committed to breaking the record if they hope to finish with the most regular-season wins in NBA history, but Monday’s contest showed that they remain perfectly capable of beating playoff teams on the road even when they lose interest for long stretches of time. The last seven minutes of the third quarter will not make the Warrior’s end-of-season highlight tape — they missed shots, lost defensive focus, and looked a little lost.
Nevertheless, Steve Kerr did not focus on the miscues, because he knows this historically excellent team is capable of righting the ship in short order. From Paul Newberry of the Associated Press:
”I liked our response,” coach Steve Kerr said. ”They were on fire in their home building. Everything was going against us, and we maintained our poise and pulled away down the stretch. It was a really good win.”
Of course, it’s easier to respond in such fashion with Stephen Curry on the court. The MVP favorite put up 36 points on 14-of-22 shooting:
Ultimately, the Warriors at their best may be so good that they don’t have to play particularly well to beat high-level competition. This was not a particularly good game for them even outside of that bad stretch — they shot 43.8 percent from the field, missed 31 three-pointers, and had fulcrums Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala shoot a combined 5-of-22 from the field. Unlike most teams, they’re good enough to cover for a large number of deficiencies.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
