The Golden State Warriors began their five-game road trip with a bang, routing the San Antonio Spurs 144-113 at the Alamodome on Friday night in front of an NBA record crowd of 68,323. Here are three observations from the Warriors' fourth win away from Chase Center in 2022-23.
Drawing two, creating dunks and layups
The Spurs entered Friday's game with the worst defense in basketball. Needless to say, Golden State will face much stiffer competition on its quest to repeat as champions even before the playoffs begin come April. But considering how ravaged by injuries and illnesses the Warriors have been of late, it's still heartening to see them to get back to their offensive bread and butter.
San Antonio had absolutely no answer for Golden State defensively, its youth and inexperience on full display from the opening tip. That was most obviously and frequently the case when Steph Curry and Klay Thompson were directly involved in the Warriors' offensive actions, stoking fear and indecision in the minds of Spurs defenders.
San Antonio made a concerted effort to ensure the Splash Brothers wouldn't have room to launch catching off screens, sending two defenders to the ball time and again. Thompson was ready for it from the very beginning, as evidenced by these slick dimes to Kevon Looney on the roll for a pair of dunks once he lured Jakob Poeltl to the perimeter.
Curry didn't even need to have the ball in his hands to create those winning numbers games. The Spurs were so intent on keeping him from seeing daylight in off-ball screening situations that they routinely forgot about the man setting the pick.
Looney, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala—now that he's returned—aren't the only Warriors capable of being playmakers from the post in split actions. Of course, all that attention paid to Curry certainly made passing and decision-making reads easy on Andrew Wiggins and Donte DiVincenczo.
Golden State likely won't meet a defense all season less equipped to deal with its off-ball movement than San Antonio. Either way, the Warriors' beautiful game was clicking on all cylinders in the halfcourt, resulting in a season-high 70 points in the paint—10 more than their previous best.
Good to great for 3 again and again and again
Efficient as the Warriors were producing easy opportunities at the rim, they were nearly as proficient creating clean looks from three.
Among the many principles that helped drive San Antonio's two-decade dynasty under Gregg Popovich was an offensive identity marked by passing up good shots for great ones. The legendary coach was surely stifling a smile watching the team of his most successful coaching protege, Steve Kerr, embrace that tenet of team-first basketball again and again and again on Friday night, yielding countless high-value three-point attempts.
Anthony Lamb probably should've rose for a layup here. Moses Moody could've caught and quickly let fly from the corner, too. Instead, Golden State passes up two quality looks for an even better one.
Moody was the beneficiary of a similar extra pass from Jordan Poole a couple possessions later, once again turning a good shot into a great one.
The Warriors sought out the best possible shot by bending San Antonio's defense off the dribble, too. Check out how many times the ball changes sides on the possession below before Curry finds space for a catch-and-shoot triple.
Lamb isn't much of a driving or finishing threat catching on the short roll. Still, his patience after setting a drag screen for Poole leaves enough time for Draymond to continue his cut toward the rim, sucking the defense further into the paint before he finds DiVincenzo for another open three.
Golden State shot 18-of-48 from three, 54.5% overall and had eight players score at least 12 points. The Warriors' 130.9 offensive rating was their best of the season, no surprise in a game they got whatever they wanted—great shots, not good ones—offensively.
The death lineup is back
It's unclear how Kerr will tweak the rotation once Jonathan Kuminga and JaMychal Green come back from injury. It's safe to say James Wiseman is on the outside looking in at regular minutes, and the same is likely true for Moody. There's also no telling how many regular season games Iguodala will play from here, even if he's fully healthy.
But it's still telling that the four-time champion was the Warriors' first man off the bench for the second straight game with Curry back in the fold, entering for Kevon Looney several minutes into both the first and third quarters. Longtime Golden State fans are very familiar with the team's resulting five-man unit, a modern version of the “death lineup” that jumpstarted the Warriors' dynasty some nine years ago.
The quintet of Curry, Thompson, Wiggins, Iguodala and Green hasn't been quite as dynamic in the past two games as its predecessors were in previous years. Thompson and Iguodala, in particular, aren't the same players they were when the death lineup took the league by storm for multiple seasons running in the mid-2010s.
Regardless, keep an eye on Golden State's substitution patterns as Kuminga and JaMychal Green get back on the floor.
Going small with Draymond at the five by replacing Looney with an athletic, defensive-minded forward could still be the Warriors' best recipe for success against elite playoff competition. Whether it's Iguodala, Kuminga or even a trade deadline acquisition filling that role, the effectiveness of 2023's death lineup will loom large to Golden State's dreams of winning a remarkable fifth title in nine years.
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