We've run out of poetic words or cleverly constructed sentences to describe the Golden State Warriors. And it's not like we need them, either. The absurdity of the facts alone do them justice.
2015 NBA scores: The Warriors are coming for you, too
Golden State decided to add style points as they stayed undefeated. It’s hard to even explain how good they are at this point.
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
On Thursday, the Warriors stayed undefeated. They did so with a 23-point comeback, the largest so far this season. They finished the game on a 19-5 run and outscored the Los Angeles Clippers -- their biggest rival, mind you -- 39-26 in the final quarter. They scored 70 points in the second half alone.
The Warriors improved to 13-0. They're the first team to start a season with 13 straight wins since the 2003 Dallas Mavericks. They have the No. 1 net rating, the No. 1 offensive rating and the No. 2 defensive rating in the NBA. They're only No. 4 in pace, though. Slackers.
Stephen Curry went for 40. Again. He's the only player with four 40-point games and he's running away with the scoring title, averaging nearly 34 points per game. For reference, he's averaging five more points than James Harden, who's second in the scoring race.
The Warriors have what's maybe the most unstoppable -- certainly, it hasn't been solved yet -- five-man unit in the NBA. How do you stop Golden State when they put Draymond Green at center? Does anyone know? Is there even an answer?
GSW lineup of Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Barnes & Green has played 48 minutes this season. Score in those 48 minutes: GSW 164, Opponents 104
— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) November 20, 2015 No other team goes down by 23 points and somewhere in the back of the mind you’re still thinking they’re going to win -- nobody but the Warriors. There’s an aura of inevitability with them. Golden State doesn’t need to play well for four quarters to beat you. They sometimes don’t need to play well for three. On Thursday, you could realistically argue they played well for a quarter and a half -- the final quarter and a half -- and won anyway. Against a team who nearly made the Western Conference Finals last year.
The Warriors will lose a game eventually. They’ll lose two, three, probably even four. But how many games will this team realistically lose in an 82-game season barring injuries? Five? Seven? Nine? They only lost 15 last year and that number seems way too high for this crew, riding off the fumes of what they saw as summer disrespect and gunning for dynasty status.
If Golden State can beat the Clippers in a quarter and a half, where does this end? This is more bullying than basketball these days. The Warriors are a horror movie monster and J.J. Abrams forgot to give them a weakness. And their undefeated regime lives on another day.
2 more things we learned
Giannis Antetokounmpo notched a career-high 33 points on 12-of-15 shooting and Milwaukee wouldn't die in the second half, pulling within eight points with 5:30 to play before Cleveland finally shut them down for good. Even without Mo Williams, their de facto starting point guard while Kyrie Irving sits injured, the Cavaliers have just been too good this year.
That Antetokounmpo game is particularly encouraging as it comes on the heels of a season-low nine-point showing from him. When Milwaukee isn’t winning tangibly on the court, these more abstract wins are important. Seeing one of the youngsters develop and not giving up against a LeBron-led team will pay dividends at some point. The Bucks drop to 5-7, so maybe it’s not right this second that these moral victories pay off, maybe not even this season. But Milwaukee has the makings of an Eastern Conference powerhouse in the next half decade and these are the steps it takes to get there.
Rajon Rondo can't stop getting triple doubles
OK, Rondo was actually a rebound shy, finishing with a line of 14 points, 18 assists and only nine rebounds. He shot 6-of-13 and knocked down a couple of three-pointers. Rondo was a shell of himself in Boston after returning from an ACL injury and his run with Dallas was fraught with missteps. But for Sacramento? They can’t hardly ask anything more of the 29-year-old point guard, who now has four triple-doubles in his last seven games, plus Thursday’s narrow miss.
It’s worth noting how Rondo’s actually shooting the ball in Sacramento. He may hover around 43 percent field goal shooting all season and his sub-30 three-point shooting isn’t great, but it’s better than what he did last year, refusing to shoot even when he was open.
Play of the night
Just in case my essay above didn’t convince you the Warriors are unstoppable, here’s the type of crazy shots they make these days. C’MON.
3 fun things
Final scores
Heat 116, Kings 109 (Hot Hot Hoops recap | Sactown Royalty recap)
Cavaliers 115, Bucks 100 (Fear the Sword recap | Brew Hoop recap)
Warriors 124, Clippers 117 (Golden State of Mind recap | Clips Nation recap)
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