The Golden State Warriors may already be gearing up to start a new winning streak. The team rebounded from its first loss of the season by crushing the Phoenix Suns 128-103 on Wednesday night at Oracle Arena. The team remains unbeaten at home this season and improved to 25-1 overall while shooting Phoenix out of the building.
NBA scores 2015: The Warriors are back to crushing everything in their path
The Warriors’ return to form, another big win by San Antonio and everything else from Wednesday in the NBA.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
For about a quarter early on, it seemed like maybe the Warriors' magic had run out. The Suns were leading 28-26 after the first quarter, and seemed to be keeping their opponent largely in check. After Brandon Knight hit a jumper with five minutes remaining in the second quarter, Phoenix was still leading by four.
And then, poof.
Within less than three minutes, the Warriors led by double digits. A combined five three-pointers from Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green would power a 21-4 run to end the first half with Golden State up 59-46.
And that was it. From there, the game was effectively over. Once the Warriors found their groove -- playing at home in front of that crowd -- the Suns didn’t stand a chance. You can’t let Golden State get going like that. If that happens, you’ve already lost the game before it’s even close to over.
Curry, Thompson and Green would keep on raining down shots in the third quarter, which saw the Warriors expand their lead from 13 to 40. One of the most amazing things about this win in particular was how much those three dominated the middle stage of the game. Golden State had a 67-25 run in which literally nobody else on the team scored. This was three superstars running circles around a bewildered opponent.
Thompson put up a season-high 43 points on 15-of-22 shooting, including 8-of-13 from three, to lead all scorers. Curry scored 25 on 10-of-14 shooting and Green added a triple-double -- his fourth of the season -- with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. The Warriors’ do-it-all forward also had five steals as part of an amazing box score-stuffing performance.
The shooting of Thompson, unlike Curry for once, was the real highlight, though. The guard scored 20 points on 7-of-7 shooting during a five-minute stretch as part of a 27-point third period in one of his most amazing streaks since going off for a record-breaking 37 points in a quarter last season. It’s truly astonishing that these two shooters are paired in the same backcourt because you never know which one will explode for a monster performance.
The Warriors finished the game shooting 52 percent from the field and 47 percent from beyond the arc. The Suns got 24 points from Mirza Teletovic, 19 points from T.J. Warren and 17 points from Knight, but scored 38 of their 103 points in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach.
If there was any curiosity over whether the Warriors would show any signs of taking the foot of the gas pedal with the winning streak of the way, this was a pretty clear answer. The quest to start a new streak has just begun, and of course, it started with a blowout.
3 other things we learned
The Spurs keep crushing teams, too
San Antonio improved to 14-0 at home this season by rolling over the Wizards 114-95. This is a team that's transformed its roster, yet kept its identity and its place atop the Western Conference. Right now it seems like the Spurs are heading straight toward a legendary showdown with the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. We'll have to see if anybody else will be able to get in the way of the two juggernauts.
The Spurs haven’t just been beating teams lately, they’ve been churning out blowouts. The team’s average margin of victory during its current four-game winning streak is over 28 points and only once in its past nine wins has it won by fewer than 19 points. San Antonio has still lost a couple games on the road during that time frame, but when the Spurs are on and beating opponents -- which they usually are -- it’s usually not been close. That’s something we’ve talked about a lot with Golden State this season, but it’s worth discussing San Antonio’s dominance, too. The Warriors’ net rating of +14.8 points per 100 possessions is only slightly better than the Spurs’ also similarly ridiculous +14.1 points per 100.
Bulls starting to turn it around
Chicago beat Memphis 98-85 for its fourth straight win, keeping pace for second place in the Eastern Conference. Jimmy Butler led all players with 24 points, Derrick Rose scored 19 and Pau Gasol had a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. The Bulls entered the fourth quarter up by eight and never let the Grizzlies get any closer in that in a strong effort to close out the game.
It was just over a week ago that we were lamenting the Bulls' fourth-quarter struggles and the team has come up with several strong finishes to complete victories since then. A couple of those games came against struggling teams (Pelicans, 76ers) and all of them came at the United Center, but it's an encouraging turnaround for a team that hasn't shown a ton of life early on in coach Fred Hoiberg's debut season. Maybe this group will just take some time to gel again after so many years under Tom Thibodeau.
The Jazz are struggling without Rudy Gobert
Games like Utah's 104-94 loss to the Pelicans on Wednesday show how much the team misses Rudy Gobert. Even though the Jazz got a fantastic performance from Derrick Favors, who largely outplayed Anthony Davis, the rest of New Orleans' starters stepped up as part of a big 31-15 fourth quarter. The Jazz have now lost four in a row and are 2-6 since losing Gobert to a knee injury in early December. The team might be equipped to weather his absence, but right now, it's looking like the injury could put a major dent in Utah's chances of making the playoffs.
Play of the night
Usually we see pretty big names in this spot, so let's shine some light on an amazing dunk by a second-round pick out of Bowling Green playing for the worst team in the league. Richaun Holmes is trying to establish himself in the NBA and it appears he's bringing his own brand of MACtion with him. All-Star big man Al Horford didn't stand a chance. Even though the Sixers gave up 127 points and fell to 1-26 on the season, at least we'll always have this.
6 fun things
Scores
Pacers 107, Mavericks 81 (Indy Cornrows recap | Mavs Moneyball recap)
Magic 113, Hornets 98 (Orlando Pinstriped Post recap | At The Hive recap)
Heat 104, Nets 98 (Hot Hot Hoops recap | Nets Daily recap)
Knicks 107, Timberwolves 102 (Posting and Toasting recap | Canis Hoopus recap)
Hawks 127, 76ers 106 (Peachtree Hoops recap | Liberty Ballers recap)
Pistons 119, Celtics 116 (Detroit Bad Boys recap | Celtics Blog recap)
Spurs 114, Wizards 95 (Pounding The Rock recap | Bullets Forever recap)
Bulls 98, Grizzlies 85 (Blog A Bull recap | Grizzly Bear Blues recap)
Pelicans 104, Jazz 94 (The Bird Writes recap | SLC Dunk recap)
Clippers 103, Bucks 90 (Clips Nation recap | Brew Hoop recap)
Warriors 128, Suns 103 (Golden State Of Mind recap | Bright Side Of The Sun recap)
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