If the river makes a noise its because water is running. And if the Warriors seem so good, it’s still because they are. With radically different feelings than last year and a compact group that waits with fervor for that fallen hero named Klay Thompson, Steve Kerr’s team moves through this season start like a fish in water. Stephen Curry remains the same as ever (that is, a legendary character and a basketball wizard), Draymond Green seems in tune with himself and everything around him, Wiggins plays his role and the quartermaster plays a good role. And there are those who see similarities with those Warriors of 2015, those of the 67 victories, the collective defense, the depth of the bench and a freshness that was believed lost but has been recovered. Even Andre Iguodala, who has not played against the Kings, seems to be living a second youth, displaying an athletic physique that had been partially diluted in a Heat with whom, not to be out of habit, he also played in the Finals.
Stephen Curry has done three great performances in three games: 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists (with 3 steals) in the debut against the Lakers, 45 points and 10 rebounds against the Clippers and now 27, with 10 assists, against the Kings in Sacramento. True to form, with an indiscriminate use of the triple, an ability to dribble the ball comparable to few and always a smile on his face, Curry works his particular magic in every game and is still the main reason to buy a ticket to see a party in which he is. Not surprisingly, regardless of his game, he is a legend: the player who has led one of the greatest dynasties in history, the point guard who has changed the game, the man who has filed the present and laid the foundations for the future. In short, Stephen Curry, the leader of these Warriors who seek to forget last season, rugged, and opt for something else. What remains to be seen is the roof of that anything else.
Against the Kings, the game was really attractive: 13 changes in the score, 19 draws, a constant give and take and acceptable shooting percentages for both teams. In a match corresponding to the Pacific Division (three victories in California for Kerr’s), the Warriors entered the fourth quarter with just two points (88-90), but that’s where they pressed on defense and defenestrated some Kings who rowed the whole game, but fell on the shore and were left with 19 poor points in the last 12 minutes. In that period of time, 8 of 22 in field goals and 2 of 13 in triples, quite poor figures to beat a tall rival and that contrast with the first three quarters, where Luke Walton’s men made the ball circulate very well (26 total assists, the same as their rivals) and they had an important hit.
In the end, the Warriors swept the fourth quarter with 0 points and less than 5 minutes behind Curry, both unpublished news. The base, by the way, He has 128 consecutive games scoring at least one triple (today 4 of 15), a streak of which he himself holds the record, with 157. Also, 14 + 6 + 6 from Draymond, 17 points (9 in the fourth quarter) from Wiggins, 22 from Jordan Poole … At the Kings, Holmes contributed a double-double (16 + 11), Fox made a bit of everything (17 + 5 + 6), Hield was a disaster (2 of 11 in shots, 2 of 10 in triples) and Davion Mitchell was the revulsive from the bench: 22 points with 9 of 16 in the throwing series. Nor can you say much, on the other hand, about the Kings: they won the initial duel, they have set aside Marvin Bagley III and they have a project with little room for maneuver and an almost constant playoff demand. Not surprisingly, they have not played the final phase since 2006, the biggest negative streak of all time. And without play-in no playoffs in recent years. And there is still Luke Walton. We’ll see how that ends. It doesn’t look good, of course.
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