Golden State Warriors: Week 20 Recap
What a week it was around the association. The Knicks showed us how they knick-- the Giannis Harden beef intensified, and the Warriors finished the week with a winning record.
Much of the week's hype surrounded Stephen Curry. After missing the last four months of play, the Warriors' superstar was expected to make his return March 1st but was held out for "conditioning purposes."
The Warriors then sent the two time MVP to their G-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, where Curry shook his rust off, if any, in a non-taped scrimmage.
Santa Cruz's head coach Kris Weems was excited for the opportunity to coach the unanimous MVP, ready to run every play through him.
The problem, Weems discovered, was that Stephen Curry did not always listen to directions.
"Sometimes, I'd draw up a play for him," Weems said, "and we wouldn't quite get to that wrinkle."
Mainly because once Curry found an ounce of space against his defender, he was going to shoot the ball. Weems was willing to live with the results, though. It is not often that a unanimous MVP shows up for a practice in the G-League.
"I'll tell you what: It raises my credibility as a coach," Weems said. "If I can yell at Steph, I can yell at our guys."
The Warriors quickly "recalled" Curry back to the NBA where Curry suited up Thursday night against the defending champions, the Toronto Raptors.
Curry did not disappoint in his return either. Playing on a 28-minute restriction, Curry dazzled the Chase Center crowd. In just 27 minutes, he nearly had a triple-double, with 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists.
The stats don't tell the full story, though. Curry looked smooth, as though he hadn't missed 58 straight games. He looked explosive, powering through double-teams, flying in for rebounds, and was smooth with his handle and court vision-- both exhibiting beautiful timing and crispness. Perhaps the most impressive numbers in his box score were the negatives: He had just one turnover and foul.
In short, Curry did everything you do not expect of a player coming off of a four-month absence.
Despite the chunk just presented, the Warriors fell short on TNT's marquee match-up after a bizarre 16-second sequence at the end of the game clinched a Raptors win and seventh straight playoff appearance.
The following days brought better Warriors content, as Ayesha Curry shared a video of herself and her sister-in-law (Stephen's sister), Sydel Curry, commentating on a shot of Curry giving some pointers to Damion Lee during a dead ball-- reminding us of the two's relationship off the court. Cue the Wayan Bros theme song.
On top of that Draymond Green finally responded to the season-long criticism from NBA on TNT personality Charles Barkley, saying:
"Barkley should stop before I go take his job, though. Because I can do that well, too. He already didn't make enough money playing, so he needs that job. He should stop talking to me. I'd like to -- [I have] a tendency to end people, so he should stop before I take his job.
If he keeps talking, I'll take it soon. Sooner than he thinks. Still, he probably should be quiet. He also can't talk basketball with me, either. Not smart enough, not qualified -- no rings can't sit at this table."
So again, it was an interesting week in the association.
Aside from that, the Warriors managed to pick up two wins against playoff teams.
The first came Tuesday night against the third-best team in the West-- record-wise. After trailing by double digits early, the young core rallied to stun the Nuggets in the high altitude-- partly because of the play of Andrew Wiggins.
Wiggins once again proved he is at his best when attacking the rim. Wiggins connected on 5-of-5 attempts around the rim in this game while shooting 6-for-13 from the rest of the floor.
Most notably, Wiggins helped create plays for his teammates all night long. He finished with 10 assists, marking only the second time in his career he has racked up double-digit assists in a game.
Eric Paschall also scored 22 points in this game, bullying his way in the paint and knocking down 2-of-4 3-point attempts.
As for the rest of the team, four other players scored in double-figures. Dragan Bender chipped in with a season-high 14 points while Jordan Poole and Damion Lee each scored 15.
Their second win came against the 76ers in the Bay. Philly was without the presence of their stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, while the Warriors were without Draymond Green (finger) and Stephen Curry (sickness)-- yes after his return he was sidelined again.
To clarify, the Warriors termed it as the seasonal flu and said that Curry has begun treatment. The team also noted that Curry is not at specific risk for COVID-19 or coronavirus.
But none of that mattered Saturday night, as Eric Paschall took over the reins. Paschall scored 23 points, including a pair of free throws with 51.7 seconds remaining.
Lee finished with 24 points and six rebounds to help the Warriors avoid being swept by the Sixers in the season series. Marquese Chriss added 13 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists.
Golden State won at Chase Center for the first time since January 18th, as they beat the Philadelphia 76ers 118-114 on Saturday night to snap a 10-game home losing streak.
"It took until the fourth quarter to really get much traction defensively," Kerr said. "Philadelphia did a good job beating us inside for the first three quarters, but our guys hung in there and kept the game close. And then fourth quarter really turned up the defense, and we got a lot of great individual performances, too."
The Warriors expect to have Curry back for their next game and the foreseeable future. They will need him as they face a trio of playoff teams in the upcoming week-- the first being the Los Angeles Clippers.
The status of Green is unknown, but it will be exciting to see Curry and the young Dubs face off against who many see as the title favorites.
After the Clippers, the Warriors have Nets-- who have their own drama popping off right now-- and then the Milwaukee Bucks.
You can catch the Warriors Clippers on TNT Tuesday night at 7:30 PST.