The Golden State Warriors are coming off perhaps the best quality win of the season against the Minnesota Timberwolves, finally starting to put it all together against a team that can threaten for contention in the Western Conference.
Here are five takeaways from a 126-113 win over the Wolves:
5. New unis, new swagger
The Warriors debuted their City edition jerseys and they were everything they were expected to be — vibrant, loud, and unapologetic.
A canary yellow (Tweety yellow, if you will) surrounded by navy blue cutaways and a fire red stripe on the sides as the accent, coupled by a hint of aquamarine in the shorts and details of The Bay logo make this a stunner, and after Steve Kerr had publicly poked a back-handed compliment, dissing the Timberwolves' loud lime green jerseys, the Warriors were obligated to come out on top.
Golden State connected in a season-high 21 shots from deep, with three of their All-Star starters hitting five or more treys in the outing — keeping Minnesota well at bay with a 45-point lead in shots from behind the arc.
4. Stephen Curry surpasses the 14,000 career-point mark
It took Curry only 41 seconds into this game to notch his 14,000th point in the NBA, doing so with an 18-foot floater and drawing the foul.
Congratulations on scoring 14,000 career points @StephenCurry30! 👍 pic.twitter.com/Jh10GtulF4
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) January 26, 2018
He became the fifth player in Warriors history to reach the 14,000-point mark, joining Paul Arizin, Rick Barry, Wilt Chamberlain, and Chris Mullin.
His night kept on rolling, as he enjoyed another hot night from beyond the arc, going 5-of-9 from deep and 9-of-14 from the field for 25 points, coasting to a second straight win.
3. KD the distributor?
Durant logged his second consecutive double-digit assist performance, notching a triple-double of 28 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists in 37 minutes of floor time against the Jimmy Butler-less T-Wolves.
The Finals MVP had previously tallied a career-high 14 assists against the New York Knicks, before getting tossed out by referee James Williams with 2:50 left in regulation on Tuesday night.
He is now averaging a career-high 5.7 assists per game, a whisker higher than his best all-around season in Oklahoma City (2013-14), when he put up 32 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.5 assists for the season.
2. Klay Thompson gets his flamethrower back
After a couple of underwhelming outings, tallying back-to-back single-digit performances against the Houston Rockets and the Knicks, Thompson was once again scorching from long-range, hitting on 7-of-9 shots from downtown and starting the game 8-of-10 from the field.
While he's had these kind of performances in the past, it's a good sight for the team, considering he's often the forgotten man in the equation, especially after a hot first quarter. The Warriors hit eight of their 11 3-point attempts in the third quarter, keeping up with a high-scoring Minnesota team.
Thompson was 9-of-13 from the floor and his 25 points helped pace an even three-headed dog attack against the Wolves, who threatened to make this a close race to the finish in the fourth period.
1. Back to the Warriors of old
This game was perhaps the most resemblant to a 2017 playoffs team that obliterated the competition and won the first 15 games of the postseason. From a whopping 40 fast break points in the first half, to clicking in all cylinders with a 3-point barrage, to a generous 37 assists — now making that a 140-10 record under Steve Kerr when recording 30 or more assists.
The Warriors will take on the Boston Celtics next on Saturday in hopes of evening out the series after having lost their first encounter with them on the road by a score of 92-88.
Game notes:
- Zaza Pachulia played in his 1,000th NBA game, now in his 15th season in the league. The Georgian veteran has played for five teams over his career, eight of them with the Atlanta Hawks.
- Jamal Crawford, at an ageless 37 years of age, was basically the entire offense for Tom Thibodeau's bench, pumping in 21 points in 26 minutes, helping make up for the absence of Butler.
- Steve Kerr seems to have solidified his core of players for the latter part of the season, leaving Omri Casspi and JaVale McGee on the sideline; while Kevon Looney, David West, and Nick Young are consistently seeing minutes.
- The forward position could see many changes with the impending return of Jordan Bell and possible acquisition of Kyle O'Quinn before the Feb. 8 trade deadline. Nearly at the 50-game mark, the Warriors (39-10) will start to fine tune minutes, look to rest veterans and starters, while throwing in the final tests for some of the fringe players to make a case for minutes in the postseason.
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