Copyright 2014 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)
By Andrew Montanye (@iDREWiT_uP)
The Golden State Warriors won their game Sunday night in D.C. by a score of 112-96 in a game that looked like it might be very interesting. The first half was plagued by turnovers and what appeared to be the makings of a nail biter for the Dubs.
The Washington Wizards came out of the gate hitting shot after shot and appeared to have very good ball movement. With two minutes gone in the second quarter, the Wizards were still shooting 60 percent from the field after a first quarter where they outscored the Warriors 36-28. Bradley Beal and John Wall seemed to be having good games going through the first half, but that would suddenly change.
The Warriors came out of the halftime break ready to play, spurred by Andrew Bogut who had a monster game with 15 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks, two assists, two steals, and a plus-30 in the plus-minus stat. Bogut appeared to be doing everything well tonight, playing defense, making great effort plays, and had the highlight of the night when he caught a pass from Steph Curry off the backboard for an alley-oop smash.
Klay Thompson, who seemed to be keeping the Warriors in the game in the first half, also had a solid game, and helped the Warriors to a 30-5 run the first 10 minutes of the third quarter. Thompson played a very efficient game scoring 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting and 6-of-9 from the three-point line.
After opening up a 25-point lead near the end of the third quarter, the starters took to the bench and let the backups play. Despite Harrison Barnes playing a very efficient game and continuing to show confidence, (13 points, six rebounds, three assists, two turnovers) the bench unit let the lead drop to 14. Soon after, Mark Jackson put his starters back in to seal the game for the final time.
Despite having the best plus-minus rating of the night at plus-35, Curry had an inefficient scoring night, scoring 14 points on 5-for-17 shooting, with 10 assists and only two turnovers. David Lee however counteracted Steph’s inefficient game with a very quiet 21 points on 10-for-16 shooting with 11 rebounds and six assists.
With their win tonight, the Warriors move to 5-0 on this road trip, and now have a nine-game winning streak. If the Warriors can grab two more wins in a row on Tuesday and Wednesday night at the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets respectively, they can be the second team ever to go 7-0 on a road trip. They would also have an 11-game winning streak.
To tag along with some possible history, the Dubs could move their “#Fullsquad” movement to a record of 20-3 after their road trip, after improving to 18-3 after the win tonight.
Look for the Warriors to come out at Milwaukee looking refreshed and possibly giving some guys shorter minutes after another night off Monday, knowing they have a back-to-back Tuesday and Wednesday.