Rested and energized, the Warriors made a strong point in their first game after the All-Star break:
This is a team that knows how it needs to play, and it’s ready to run, run, run all the way to the regular season finish line.
Earlier this week, I explained in this space the downsides of the Warriors’ newfound and just commitment to small ball.
Thursday showed the upside.
The Dubs were cohesive, high-energy, and whip-smart for a full 48-minute campaign. Their 128-110 win over the Lakers was as entertaining a game as they have played all year, season, and perhaps even the past two seasons.
And while it came against a middling opponent — the Lakers were without LeBron James, who is taking full advantage of the Lakers’ unlimited time off policy, on Thursday — that fact shouldn’t take away anything from Golden State’s performance.
There was nothing simple about the Warriors’ offensive scheme. The Dubs didn’t return from the break and resort to simple high pick-and-roll offense with Steph Curry and Draymond Green. The layers of cuts and screens away from the ball that defined the Warriors’ early dynastic days — the finest version of basketball we, perhaps, have ever seen in the NBA — were still there, in full force, dizzying the Lakers from the opening tip.
Defensively, the Dubs weren’t perfect — at one point, they ran a box-and-one for… Austin Reeves? — but with Green orchestrating the action on that side of the court, Golden State is proving to be a capable defensive team (who knew?) and perhaps even a good one. (Exceptional still feels a long way off, but I think all parties are open to it.)
What these Dubs extolled Thursday, more than anything else, was effort.
And it’s that effort that will define what this season will become.
Pair that effort with understanding on the court, and you have something special to watch.
After Thursday’s game, is it ridiculous to say the Dubs looked like a team that could make some noise in the Western Conference this spring?
Obviously, no.
(It’s my column. I make the rules.)
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The issue, of course, is that it’ll take that kind of effort, night in, night out, for the Warriors to turn this season into one of consequence.
It needs the same Green, putting Anthony Davis — or whatever All-Star center the other team has — in a vice grip, just like when the Brow was back in New Orleans.
It will take the immortal and inevitable Curry to be the best player on the floor, no matter the opponent or the circumstance. (My goodness, did Curry play inspired ball on Thursday.)
It’ll take Brandin Podziemski being a rat on the floor. (This is a high compliment.)
Jonathan Kuminga playing a professional, selfless game, well above the rim, of course.
And Andrew Wiggins deciding that yes, he is, in fact one of the finest wings in the league.
Folks, it’s even going to take Lester Quinones. Who had that on their bingo card this season?
Can it be done? Absolutely. When the Warriors play like they did Thursday, there’s a pretty large margin for error, even.
The challenge in doing that will be immediately felt, though.
The Warriors need to repeat their Thursday night effort again on Friday night at Chase Center, when they’ll host the lowly Hornets. Late Sunday afternoon, they’ll host the Nuggets.
Then they get to take the show on the road with games at teh Wizards, Knicks, Raptors and Celtics.
Then Wednesday, March 6, and Thursday, March 7, the Warriors will get the Bucks and Bulls back-to-back at home.
We’ll know so much more about this team two weeks from now. If this is for real — if this push has staying power — we’ll know by that Bulls game.
I can have my doubts about the sustainability of this style. I can worry about this team running out of gas the way it did in 2021 (albeit with lesser talent, but still). I can imagine the effort waning if one thing is knocked offline.
But that’s sportswriter hand-wringing. Don’t let it interrupt the enjoyable show.
Ultimately, the Warriors get to decide what this season will become. They get to write the story.
And you have to like the script they played out on Thursday night.