The Weekly Dish

The Warriors added two more victories to their league-leading total last week, thanks in large part to their penchant for nine-minute bursts.

For the week of Monday, Dec. 21 – Sunday, Dec. 27

The Warriors added two more wins to their league-leading total with victories over the Suns and Bucks last week, although they came in considerably different fashions. One saw the Warriors hold a large lead for the majority of the contest, whereas the other required a late comeback in a game in which the Warriors trailed until the final minutes. There was, however, at least one stark similarity between the two, that being the Warriors’ penchant for and ability to use a prolonged burst to take control of the game on their way to victory. With exactly five minutes remaining in the second quarter of Wednesday’s win over the Suns, the Warriors found themselves trailing 42-38. Not too long after, at the 7:49 mark of the third quarter, the Dubs were suddenly leading 75-53. A similar burst allowed the Warriors to complete their comeback over the Bucks on Friday night. O.J. Mayo’s jumper with 9:19 remaining in the fourth quarter put Milwaukee in front 100-89. Festus Ezeli’s free throws with 9.5 seconds remaining put the Warriors up 121-112, which ended up being the final score. That’s two separate instances in one week in which the Warriors were +26 and +20 over a 9:10 span, both of which proved to be the deciding stretch in each of the victories. And, as you’d expect, the bursts themselves tend to have a couple consistent commonalities: dynamic offense and staunch, suffocating defense. At this point, no one is surprised by the Dubs’ potent offensive outbursts, but every once in awhile, they remind us of just how good they can be on the defensive end. During those two prolonged bursts, the Warriors held the Suns (4-of-15) and Bucks (6-of-23) to 26.7 and 26.0 percent shooting from the field, respectively. Any time the Warriors defend like that for a nine-plus minute stretch, they’re going to give themselves a great chance to win that particular game.

Even with those great defensive displays though, it might seem as though the Warriors have slipped a bit on the defensive end, a concern both Draymond Green and Luke Walton have voiced recently. After all, the Warriors have only held their opponent below 43.0 percent from the field twice in their last 11 games, allowing an average of 108.3 points against per game over that stretch. However, taking a closer look, in many ways the Warriors are either ahead of or right on pace with the defensive performance they put on last season, in which they were the best defensive team in the NBA. For instance, the Dubs posted the best defensive rating in the league last year, allowing an average of 98.2 points per 100 possessions; this season, that number has dropped to 98.1. Similarly, the Warriors’ are holding opponents to worse effective field goal and three-point shooting percentages than a year ago, while hauling in 1.2 percent more available defensive rebounds. Due to the fact that the Warriors play at the fastest pace in the NBA, and therefore have inherently more possessions for and against per game, percentages are almost always a better indicator of performance than base averages, and in those areas, the Warriors still stack up well against themselves from a year ago. The fact that the Warriors’ players and coaching staff still feel as if they are slipping defensively - which, admittedly, there are some areas of drop-off - could certainly be interpreted as a positive. Even at 26-1, there’s still plenty of room for improvement, and that terrifying possibility ought to keep opposing coaches up at night.

Another week, another two-game slate. The Warriors continue a homestand with plenty of built-in rest this week, beginning with a matchup against the visiting Utah Jazz on Wednesday night. The Dubs pulled out a close 106-103 victory in Salt Lake City back on November 30, the most recent example of the Jazz proving to be a tough matchup for Golden State. Then, on Friday, the NBA is giving fans the present they’ve all been waiting for with the highly anticipated NBA Finals rematch between the Warriors and Cavaliers on Christmas Day. Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Klay Thompson, Kyrie Irving, Draymond Green, Kevin Love, and new Christmas Day uniforms…the list goes on and on. The game is the premiere matchup of the league’s five-game slate that day, and considering how exciting their Finals series was, there’s no reason why Friday’s game couldn’t feature the same kind of crazed atmosphere that nearly blew the roof off of Oracle Arena just six short months ago. Not a bad way to put a bow on one of the marquee dates of the NBA calendar. Not bad at all.

Till next week.

The Dish has been served.