Warriors Post Season-High Steals Count Against Clippers

We’ve had plenty of crazy Warriors stats the first 20 games into the season. In an afternoon slugfest of a game against the Clippers, however, they pulled off another ridiculous one - season-high 19 steals, and the 8th game this season they’ve held an opponent under 100 points.

While the Clippers offense hinges essentially entirely on the shoulders of Paul George as Kawhi Leonard remains out for the foreseeable rest of the regular season, the Dubs eclipsed their season total through just three quarters.

Two Warriors posted 5 or more steals: Gary Payton II, snagging 5 exactly, and none other than the MVP favorite Stephen Curry with 6, the first 5 of which came in the first half. Games like this - and plays like this - encapsulate the narrative that Steph has been a very solid defender this season. Of course, fans of the game have known this for awhile.

Steph Curry’s single-season steals per game count was in 2016, when he led the league with 2.1 takeaways each contest. His ability to disrupt passing lanes with excellent instinct and timing has attributed him as a purely off-ball guy, but he’s also shown this season that he can play pretty damn-good on-ball defense as well. This play on Paul George and an earlier season possession where he almost picked James Harden show that he should be getting more recognition on that end.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a discussion on the league’s best defense without talking about its captain, Draymond Green. Amongst qualified players, Green has the second-best defensive rating in the league behind perennially-overrated Rudy Gobert, and is shortly followed by Curry.

While Green didn’t stuff the stat sheet too much tonight, his presence was felt as the two best-rated defenses in the league squared off. The Warriors obviously play better when Green is calling the shots from the interior, and the return of the famed “death lineup” (the one everyone wants to replicate nowadays) with its switchability has once more been a signature of the Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors face off against the white-hot Suns on Tuesday, where their defense will be put to the test covering a triple-tiered offense with Chris Paul, Devin Booker, and Deandre Ayton. How the Warriors handle these matchups will set precedent for how dominant the Warriors can be… or how teams can start to figure out what they can do to poke holes in that dominance.

(Photo credit: NBAE / Getty Images)