The Golden State Warriors knew things had to change after they got thoroughly beaten down by the Oklahoma City Thunder. The fans knew it, the players knew it, and Steve Kerr and the coaching staff knew it. That's why, before the Warriors' first matchup against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs, Kerr told reporters to expect some changes to the rotation.
The most drastic of those changes was inserting Moses Moody and rookie Will Richard into the starting lineup next to the veteran stars for Jonathan Kuminga and Quinten Post– the kind of shake-up expected of a team searching for a spark. And for at least one game, it looks like that lineup gave Golden State some kind of momentum as they dispatched the Spurs 125-120 to snap a six-game losing streak on the road.
“We needed to rediscover our identity,” Kerr said after the game when asked about the thought process behind the new starting lineup.
“The ball movement right away, even though we scored 14 points in the first quarter, I liked the process. The ball was moving, everybody was sprinting into ball screens, spreading the floor, getting to our spots in transition, competing defensively. It just felt like our team out there.”
Led by the aging brilliance of Stephen Curry and his 46 points on 13-of-25 shooting, the Warriors refound some of the life and joy that had been absent the past two weeks. While the Spurs' gigantic star Victor Wembanyama muscled his way to a 31-point, 15-rebound, 10-assist triple-double, add in Jimmy Butler's steady 28 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists, and Moody shooting 5-of-10 from the 3-point line, and the Warriors were able to handle the younger, bigger Spurs.
The sun in the Warriors' solar system
With Golden State's competitive juices flowing much more freely, Curry and Green wound back the clock to deliver elite performances on both ends. Trailing by seven points at halftime, Curry exploded for 22 points in the third quarter en route to the Dubs' 43-point avalanche in the period. Curry noted his shots were short in the first half and made the necessary adjustments to go nuclear.
It was Curry's 43rd 40-point game after turning the age of 30, which puts him just one game away from tying Michael Jordan's historic 44-game tally. Curry's performance was another reminder of how electric a show he can bring and how important he is to the Warriors.
“When you have the privilege of watching Steph for 11+ years like I have, you get used to this,” Kerr said post-game. “He's the reason this whole thing has happened. He's our Tim Duncan– he's the sun in our solar system. And he's just such an incredible player and teammate, and great to see him out there [after missing three games].”
But if Curry's the sun that the Warriors' solar system revolves around, Green is the gravity that binds them. With Golden State completely surrendering size to Wembanyama and San Antonio's bigs, Green summoned a vintage defensive performance holding the Frenchman to 1-of-8 shooting when defending him. After the game, Al Horford broke down Green's defensive effort on Wembanyama.
“He takes on that challenge. He embraces it,” Horford said. “Him being able to get into the ball, making it hard for him to have anything easy… He's just a smart defender, so he knows when he can do different things. When he can bump him, when he can shoot the gaps. But ultimately, I feel like he did a really good job contesting his shots.”
Checking in on Golden State, two games into the road trip
It was a much-needed win for Golden State after a couple of low-energy outings. Kerr pointed to one of the key differences between this win and the loss to OKC was the “competitive spirit.” He felt the team was embarrassed by their effort against the Thunder and that this game helped them “rediscover” their team identity.
“When you lose, you got to access what's going on,” Curry told reporters (h/t Joseph Dycus of The Mercury News). “Don't be afraid of changes, and that means everybody being ready to adapt to whatever you're asked to do. Especially with a team with high expectations, like, we're not going to sit in a situation thinking that things are going to change on their own.”
Curry shared that the team did not have a players-only meeting but rather a good film session to get back on the same page. From his account, it seems to have gone over well, as the leaders addressed the problems without pointing anyone out personally.
“Whether it's lineup changes, whether that's how we're approaching the game, whether it's energy, whatever it is, we've been around the block long enough and we have enough experience. We can address stuff and not make it personal. It's everybody taking accountability and ownership and keeping it real. We probably got to do it three, four more times down the rest of the season. This is just the way basketball is at this level when you have expectations.”
Golden State will face San Antonio once again on Friday. Curry said his illness has died down, albeit with a little congestion remaining. Kuminga, however, will be someone to monitor moving forward. He missed the second half with knee soreness, after entering the game questionable with bilateral knee tendinitis. Regardless, the Warriors will look to build on the spark they found moving forward.
