The Warriors outlasted the Magic on Monday night to set a new NBA record with 45 consecutive home victories. Behind a combined 68 points from Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Golden State was able to pull away from a young and feisty Orlando squad that managed to whittle a 17-point deficit to only two in the waning moments of the contest. However, the Dubs were able to make a key shot and steal to escape with win number 56 on the season.
1) One night after shooting a frigid 4-of-30 from 3-point land in a humiliating loss to the Lakers, the Warriors connected on 16-of-35 from beyond the arc (11 more than the Magic) to hang on for a six-point win. Orlando kept fighting back from double-digit deficits all night and had the game within two points, but the Dubs were bailed out by a helter-skelter 3-pointer from Klay Thompson in the corner with 52 seconds remaining in the fourth to pull out the closer-than-it-should-have-
2) The Dubs haven’t played particularly well since the All-Star break, but the mistakes have largely been masked by Stephen Curry’s earth-scorching play. However, with the shocking loss to a Lakers team playing .200-ball, and after last night’s disjointed and careless effort against the Magic, the Warriors need to start playing better in preparation for the playoffs. Unfortunately, their next game against a contender doesn’t come until March 19 versus the Spurs. That could be more than 10 days of this continued just-good-enough basketball.
3) The Magic had six more shot attempts than the Warriors because the home team committed 24 turnovers. Draymond Green (9 rebounds, 10 assists) led the team with 7 giveaways and, although he was gamely battling an illness, some of his passes were practically telegraphed and easily picked off. Steve Kerr to reporters after the game: “I could rattle off 10, easy, that were just inexcusable.”
4) The 45-game consecutive home win streak doesn’t feel as good knowing that it came in such a sloppy fashion. Kind of like when you’re cheering for a guy playing against your favorite team for fantasy reasons.
5) The bench unit was minus-18 in the minutes when both Curry and Green were off the court. On the plus side, Brandon Rush shot 4-of-7 for 11 points and was the only other reliable scorer in a Warrior’s jersey. When the previous sentence is true, the Warriors are probably in an offensive funk.
6) Aaron Gordon continues to shine in a starting role for the Magic. The San Jose native dropped 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. He’s obviously lethal in transition but his touch around the paint was better than expected. With apologies to Oladipo, Gordon is by far the player with the most upside on the Magic. In the last 7 games whens he’s played 30 minutes or more, Gordon is averaging 16 points and 10.8 boards. The future is bright in Mickey Land.
7) I would really, really like to see a lineup of Gordon, Fournier, Hezonja, Oladipo and Payton. The spacing would be non-existent but what fun they’d be in transition!
8) Kerr spent the night tinkering around with the backup big man minutes. Speights, Varejao, McAdoo and even Harrison Barnes got some run at the five spot but all were ineffective in a different way (can’t guard, can’t shoot, kind of lost, too small). Can someone fly Festus Ezeli to Germany and get him some of that secret knee sauce that Andre Iguodala got? The team could use Swagzeli back.
9) The bastardry of Andrew Bogut made a highlight. Watch his “screen” on Oladipo. All Victor can do is put his hands up and ask “WTF?” at the refs.
10) The Warriors aren’t playing particularly well, but they’re 56-6, 3.5 games ahead of San Antonio in the standings. Everything will be fine as long as Stephen Curry continues to do things like this on the court. (This too.)