1) Congratulations if you stuck it out and watched all 48 minutes of this rout — no one can ever question your Warriors fandom again. Even had the Pacers been fully healthy and rested, they would have been considerable underdogs against this Warriors juggernaut that’s starting to find its groove on offense (averaging a ridiculous 120.6 points per game during the win streak). So the Pacers missing their two best players … well, that’s how you get a 37-point thumping. The Dubs won every quarter; didn’t play a single starter over 30 minutes; and the fourth quarter was 12 minutes of extended garbage time where even Steve Kerr felt comfortable enough with the lead to sit out his top four guys. (Seriously, Kerr playing his starters during 20-point blowouts is my least favorite part of his tenure.)
2) Klay was fantastic again amassing a game-high 25 points on only 18 shots. Don’t look now, but after a blazing-hot road trip, Klay’s averages are creeping back up. 20.4 points per game on 47% shooting (35% from deep).
3) With Turner and his 2.4 blocks per game out of the lineup, the Warriors had an open lane to slice through all night and Draymond Green was an expert at flinging the ball to those cutters. Dray had another fantastic do-a-little-bit-of-everything kind of a game, collecting 10 points, nine boards, seven assists, two steals, and two blocks. (Dray also had an illuminating talk with The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski on his quest for the DPOY award and recruiting KD: a must listen for any Dubs fan.)
4) Steph didn’t exactly bust out of his recent cold shooting streak from long range (20 points, 2-6 on 3s) but he did have the shot of the night. What’s more exciting in the NBA right now than the MVP getting the ball behind mid-court with time ticking down?
5) Given the extra helping of garbage time, we were treated to a fourth quarter of Patrick McCaw flexing his offensive muscles. When Pat’s playing with the starters, he’s usually looking to swing the ball to an open teammate and rarely shoots unless he’s wide open. But with the subs last night, the rookie was more assertive on offense and showed off a slithery skill set with the ball that should get better as the season continues.
6) One fun nugget of the Javale McGee experience is watching the Dubs relentlessly (and recklessly) throw lobs at the rim each time he’s in the game. It reminds me of when I was in junior high and there was that one really tall dude in the neighborhood that could dunk. Every time he was on my team all my buddies and I would throw junk at the hoop just to watch him smash it on a fool. There really needs to be a 2016-2017 YouTube montage of failed McGee lob attempts.
7) Speaking of McGee, whenever he has a good run (7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks), I get the feeling that the Warriors are going to need him at a crucial juncture of the season. And nothing scares me more as a Dubs fan than thinking, “the Warriors are going to need Javale McGee at a crucial juncture of the season.”
8) Since November, Andre Igoudala has been shooting a respectable 37 percent from behind the arc (31% for the season). When the Warriors’ offense was grinding and stalling earlier in the year, Igoudala was repeatedly forced into tightly contested 3-pointers with little time on the shot clock, a big reason for his low percentage in the first five games. Now that the team has settled into a better groove offensively (currently tops in the league in offensive efficiency by a mile) Igoudala is getting ample space and time to fire off his long ball. And when he gets those shots with nary a defender in sight, Andre has been banging them home. He’s currently connecting on 42.1% of Wide Open 3-pointers (per NBA.com). Andre is a good 3-point shooter as long as he has time to set his feet, gather the ball, bend at the knees, check his Twitter feed, and slowly begin his upward jumping motion while cocking the ball back.
9) Somehow, Monta Ellis (5 points, 2-8 shooting) and David Lee need to end up on the same team again so all our eye-test-only, I-don’t-need-advanced-stats friends can finally be happy.
10) After a “slow” start, the Warriors have the second best record in the league at 12-2 and own a 10.3 point differential that’s second only to the Clippers (who are currently playing out of their minds). Sure, the Dubs have played only six teams with a .500 or better record and their strength of schedule is the third weakest in the NBA thus far (per ESPN.com) but they’re beating the teams they should beat while Steve Kerr continues to tinker with lineups and rotations. They’ve yet to get all three of their best scorers on track in consecutive games and they’re defense is still a work in progress. Somehow for a team that’s on pace to win 70 games, there remains significant room for improvement.