After struggling all season to support Stephen Curry, the Golden State Warriors finally broke out on Wednesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers. On the road against the 76ers, Golden State was blessed to not face Joel Embiid who is currently out with a torn meniscus.
While Embiid is out, Tyrese Maxey still is usually the type of player that gives Golden State fits. With documented issues on defense this season, the Warriors were on top of their game, holding Maxey to only 13 points on Wednesday.
Before the game, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said "I think this group can do something special," when asked about the Warriors position heading into the NBA trade deadline. The biggest question was the play of Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson and in return what value they could yield on the open market.
It appears that Wiggins anc Thompson answered those questions, scoring a combined 39 points and a combined +41 plus/minus on the night. Both Thompson and Wiggins were paramount to the Warriors last championship run, and the shooting of their two stars will be the main item to watch moving forward.
How important is it that Golden State won comfortably tonight without a dominant showing from Curry? It's been more than 2 years since Golden State has won a non-clutch game (greater than single digit margin of victory) without 20 or more points from Steph Curry.
Even bigger than the play of the Warriors' veterans returning to normal is the ability for Kerr to play rookies in key minutes. Both Lestor Quinones and Brandon Podziemski played 25 minutes on Wednesday, which allows Kerr to be much more creative in his rotation minutes for veterans like Draymond Green and Kevon Looney.
Golden State moves to 23-25, and the Warriors will only be one game back from a play-in spot heading to Indiana tomorrow. The Warriors will face off against the Pacers in the second game of a back to back, with only five games remaining before the NBA All-Star Break.
Now winning four of their last five games, Golden State is heating up at the right time, While they have shown plenty of inconsistencies in their 2023-24 season, this is still an NBA team that is incredibly dangerous if they sneak into the playoffs. With only six games of difference between Golden State and the 6th seed, there is still plenty of time for Curry and company to make a run in the second half of the season.
Finally, I'll leave you with some Warriors fans who are loving life right now: