The Warriors Are The Best In The League At Home
After the Warriors won 112-107 against the Jazz on Wednesday night, they have improved to a league best 15-2 on their home floor. For reference, the other teams with stellar home records are the Bucks, Grizzlies, Cavaliers, and Nuggets. But even with most of those teams performing very well, the Warriors have the best of the bunch, which is ironic considering that none of them come close to their record on the road, sitting at a staggering 3-16.
The Dubs just play better at home and the role players feel more comfortable and confident in their abilities. A perfect example of this is the game against Utah where the Warriors found themselves without Curry, Thompson, Wiggins, and JaMychal Green. In their absence, DiVincenzo scored 19 points, Poole had 26, Lamb 10, Kuminga 9, and some contributions from two standout players in Ty Jerome and Patrick Baldwin Jr. Jerome, who is on a two-way contract still, scored 17 points and grabbed 7 rebounds whereas Baldwin Jr, also known as PBJ, had an extremely efficient night with 11 points in just 13 minutes.
It’s safe to say that the home crowd really does have an effect on the players and not only that, but the Warriors are at their best when they are at Chase Center. Feeding off the crowd’s electric energy to overcome a deficit or getting one last stop at the end of the game can be the difference between a playoff team and a play-in team. The road record will have to improve as the season goes on, but for now the squad looks unstoppable at home.
Much was the case last year as during the broadcast on Wednesday night, Bob Fitzgerald and Kelenna Azubuike mentioned the fact that the year prior the Warriors beat the Jazz at home and went on a winning streak to end the season that helped boost their record and allowed them to make the playoffs. So, the Warriors are no strangers to finding success at home, no matter the deficit, and no matter the struggles offensively; when they get it going at home, there’s no stopping them.
Even Klay likes their chances and believes that the team could go on a winning streak the next few games.
And Klay wasn’t lying as the Warriors have won three in a row and still have five more games to go at home. Their next matchup is against Lillard and the Blazers on Friday, a team that is very close to Golden State in the rankings this season. Portland is currently 18-16 in 8th place while the Warriors are close behind in 10th place at 18-18.
The Blazers are also the last team that the Warriors play of their 82 games this season so we will see how the two stack up come early April when the playoffs are fast-approaching. The goal for the Warriors isn’t to get the one seed as last year they won the championship in the number three spot: All they need to do is grab a healthy number of wins while Curry is out and be ready for his return sometime in January, or whenever he and the team doctors see fit. Until then, they are sitting just fine with the best record on their turf, and will look to improve upon their road record as the season progresses.
(Photo credit: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)