Subscribe
Follow Us
The Golden State Warriors fell deep into a seemingly insurmountable hole. Playing without Stephen Curry as well as Andrew Wiggins and De'Anthony Melton, the Dubs' exceptional depth was tested early in Tuesday's game against the New Orleans Pelicans, and every answer they came up with seemed like the wrong one.
Golden State had no space to operate offensively in the halfcourt amid mishmashed lineups that sorely lacked spacing and dynamic playmaking. Buddy Hield was ice cold after his surprise insertion as a starter. No one had a chance at containing Brandon Ingram or Zion Williamson, an especially damning development given the Pelicans' own dearth of shooters and additional ball-handlers absent Dejounte Murray and Trey Murphy III. The home team couldn't grab a rebound, either.
The Warriors trailed 31-14 after the first quarter, a lopsided score that was perfectly reflective of each team's performance. They finally found some life in the second quarter, though, spurred by the energy of Lindy Waters III and a newfound commitment to hounding the ball defensively. Points weren't going to come easy missing both Curry and Wiggins. Golden State needed to turn defense into offense with them watching from the bench at Chase Center, a team-wide realization that served as the driving force behind the Warriors cutting a 20-point deficit to just four entering the halftime locker room—where a typically intense Draymond Green doubled down on the importance of making New Orleans uncomfortable.
“First half, we came out kinda sluggish. Second half, Draymond challenged us to come out and hit 'em first,” Gary Payton II told Zena Keita of NBC Sports Bay Area after the game. “We could see in that second quarter what happens when we attack and be aggressive, what happens in that second quarter, things started to shift our way. So we just came out with that mindset in the second half and it just carried through to the rest of the game.”
Jonathan Kuminga gave Golden State's emotional leader even more credit for an utterly dominant second half that ended in a feel-good 124-106 win, representing a wild 38-point turnaround from the victors' steepest cliff on the scoreboard.
“It all started with Draymond. Draymond came in the locker room, told all of us, ‘They're looking good right now, but once we put pressure [on them], they're all gonna fade. And that's the same thing that happened. We all just came out here with one mindset: Just putting pressure on defense.He said that as long as we put pressure on defense the offense will be easy, so that's what we just came out here and did.”
Ultra-disruptive Warriors leading NBA in deflections, steals
The Warriors racked up 15 steals and nine blocks in the first leg of their home back-to-back with the Pelicans, tying and establishing new season-highs in both categories. Even more impressive? Their whopping 29 deflections, the best evidence of an ultra-disruptive defensive effort spearheaded by Green, Payton, Brandin Podziemski, Kevon Looney and Kyle Anderson.
This is vintage Payton, affecting CJ McCollum even on the catch before Looney helps him create a turnover.
Article Continues Below
Golden State began aggressively sending two to the ball on Ingram after his blazing start, exploiting the Pelicans' shortage of worthwhile release valves. But the Dubs also made life hard for Ingram before then, their endlessly active hands at the point of attack and second level preventing him from forcing the issue.
Even Waters got in on the act, continuing to prove he's more than a one-trick pony of three-point shooting.
Golden State hasn't exactly faced an elite slate of offenses through the first four games of the regular season. The Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz are bound to finish bottom-10 or worse on that side of the ball. The Los Angeles Clippers would be no offensive juggernaut even if Kawhi Leonard was available. No Murray and Murphy leaves the Pelicans without a reliable table-setter and ever-threatening long-range bomber, forcing Willie Green to deploy a traditional center in lineups that would already struggle for flow and continuity offensively with them on the shelf.
Still, it would be no surprise if the Warriors stayed at the top of the league leaderboard for steals (13.3) and deflections (26.0) per game from late October through mid-April. No team in basketball boasts a collection of defenders more disruptive than Golden State.
Green, Payton, Anderson and Melton are elite playmakers defensively. Podziemski is quickly getting there. Looney is among the league's most sound, reliable help defenders. A rejuvenated Wiggins has flashed the form that once had him broadly considered a top-tier stopper. Hield is the only player in the rotation who's an abject negative defensively, and he's been fully committed on that end so far. Even Curry can be a difference-maker on defense away from the ball.
The Warriors enter Wednesday's game with a 99.3 defensive rating, second behind the Oklahoma City's Thunder laughably stingy mark. That number will surely come up as the season progresses. All early returns, though, suggest Golden State will live up to its preseason goal of sporting one of the NBA's best defenses in 2024-25—even discounting Green's singular motivational impact.
