Good win in that’s-more-like-it fashion, finally, for the Warriors. We’ll remember the first quarter for the blown pick-and-roll coverages and more turnovers, although Golden State scrapped to get some possessions back, so the points off turnovers disparity wasn’t quite Groundhog Day from 48 hours ago in Phoenix.
In the second quarter, Will Richard gave the Dubs a shot in the arm, as Buddy Hield chalked up his first DNP since 2023, a span of 195 games played, straight, per Sam Gordon of the SF Chronicle, via Warriors PR (probably). Hield, who was challenged by Steve Kerr about two weeks ago…
…had committed two costly turnovers in limited action during his stint off the bench in Phoenix Thursday night, so it was a combination of a punishment and, per Kerr on this postgame podium, the fact that Richard hadn’t played in three games even though he’d done nothing wrong to be benched.
It was kinda neat to see Jimmy Butler setting high ball screens for one Wardell Stephen Curry at the start of the game. It’s important not to lose him in the shuffle like what happened against Minnesota and Portland. Best to get him involved early. What better way than to do that with action with Steph.
With about ten-and-a-half minutes to go in the third, Jimmy put the Warriors up for the first time since very early Q1, with a line drive “hand grenade” three, perhaps sparked previously by Steph penetrating and drawing three Suns, finding Butler for a dunk baseline.
Jimmy got another dunk via Curry gravity, Richard scored nine straight points on a reverse layup and-one sandwiched between threes fed by Jimmy and Pat Spencer stealing a rebound from Oso Ighodaro. The 29-20 third quarter set Golden State up well for the final frame.
With Gui Santos starting Q4 and providing the usual “ener-gui”, the Warriors’ offense found Jimmy in mismatches as Gui hit an open three thanks to Jamaree Bouyea finding himself guarding Butler in the post. That gave Golden State an 11-point lead with seven minutes to play.
That was enough of a cushion to close out as Steph had a usual dagger late, but the Warriors closed things out with a Steph to Gary Payton II to Jimmy tic-tac-toe for an insurmountable 115-110 lead with under a minute to play.
So, a concerted effort, especially the “donut” substitution pattern, as coined by Kelenna Azubuike, for Curry in the fourth quarter. He exited with 30 minutes played ant the eight-minute mark of Q4 and came back in with about five-and-a-half-minutes to go.
Said Butler:
Got the ball more, if I’m being brutally honest. So I was able to attack. That was it. Shoot the ball when I’m open, as always, pass it when I’m not, as always. That’s the route to success.
I still think there’s ways I can give people the ball (when there’s not proper spacing). I can get into the action. That’s on me to do that more often than not, but I think we’re moving in the right direction.
I just feel like if I’m in the option, even if I don’t get the ball, I feel like the defense has to react, maybe not as much as they gotta react to Steph, but maybe they gotta react a little bit.
Below are some videos and, behind the paywall, transcripts. I’ll have the Curry interview up later, and talk about his defense and me campaigning/clamoring for him to get some All-Defense votes for the first time ever.
Might also do a quickie write-up on Kerr not being happy with the Draymond Green double-tech especially after the “bush league” punch, as Steph put it postgame in Phoenix, by Dillon Brooks. I’ll explain why this weirdness of a player who punches somebody deliberately doesn’t get ejected, while another player who yells expletives at a ref does, happens in a regime — a referee infrastructure — ruled over by an uber-capitalist-but-non-actual-basketball-aficionado Adam Silver.
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👇TRANSCRIPT BELOW👇
00:00 Gary, what was the vibe on the bench in the huddle when Draymond gets tossed, knowing that you’re gonna have to play the rest of the game without him?
00:09 GARY PAYTON II, POSTGAME PHX-GSW: Just have his back. He gets us going, probably got us going a little bit, so we knew we had to lock in and we make up for it, his activity.
00:19 Steve was just talking a little bit about Dillon Brooks. He was pretty upset with the play he had on Steph last game, the one that he had against you a few years ago. What do you make of his play style and his on court intensity for the past couple games?
00:38 It’s just who he is.
00:43 So you were, in some of your minutes, you were picking up Devin Booker, DBook. He obviously had 38 points. What do you, how do you approach that matchup going in knowing, hey, I have to guard one of the best scorers in the league?
00:55 Just go and make it difficult for him. Make it tough for him to get his catches, get to his spots, just contest at a high level and just make it difficult for him to get looks off. We know he’s gonna get, he’s gonna get his numbers, but just make it tough for him.
01:12 End of game situation– hey Gary, end of game situation, you guys are up three. You could have fouled. You guys don’t, works out fine. What are your, what’s your guys’ protocol in those situations, up three?
01:23 It’s just situational, depending on what we think is the right play or right thing to do in that situation, so every situation’s different. Just go about it how we think it’s the best thing for us to, what to do in those situations.
01:39 And how did things change offensively without Draymond, knowing he’s like that playmaker, the point forward guy?
01:45 Nah, it’s next man up. Gotta step up and be able to play make and play together and do what we can to get everybody touches and good looks and just swing the ball and move and get it to our other playmakers.
01:58 Gary.
01:59 What up, Monte?
02:02 Draymond is the defensive anchor for this team and has been for a long time, but the defense really didn’t pick up until after he got ejected. Was that a response knowing that he wasn’t there? What, why did the defense get so good in the second and third quarters?
02:14 Yeah, sometimes we take advantage of Draymond and what he does for us and we count on him to clean up everything, but once he’s outta there, we know we all gotta come together and do it c collectively and I think everybody felt that. And when we’re doing that as a unit, we can be pretty damn good.
02:33 And the rookie came in tonight and hadn’t played for a while. What’d you think?
02:38 Stay ready. He’s, he already carries himself like a true professional and a vet already. He stays ready. He watches, he pays attention, he learns, so I think Steve trusts him in any moment, even if he doesn’t play for a couple of games and come out there and gives a little spark. And that’s what he did.
02:59 You and Steph led the Warriors in rebounds. I think you had four offensive boards. What does that mean to the team when again, the guards, the smaller guards are the ones who are crashing the boards and really leading that charge?
03:10 It’s just a good job with our bigs, hitting their crash guys and letting it bounce and letting our guards come down and rebound. It’s collective rebounding. Everybody, bigs or somebody hit somebody and let it drop and our guards come in and help our bigs out and grab it and get going. Shout out to our bigs for hitting and clearing space, but also for our guards to come back and help out, ride our bigs.
03:35 Thank you. Yeah, you guys were able to close out this game, haven’t always been able to do that this season. Is that something you guys can build on moving forward?
03:44 I hope so. I hope so. You guys are great. Thanks.
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03:49 In the past, over the past couple days, how much of a topic of conversation was Dillon Brooks’ foul on Steph from the other night?
03:58 WILL RICHARD: It wasn’t really much of a topic conversation, but we kept it in the back of our head. We knew it was a dirty play, so we definitely had it on our mind for sure.
04:07 After the past few games getting DNP’ed, what were some of the things that you did to stay ready?
04:13 Working out a lot, optional shooting. I was at every one of those. I knew my time was gonna get called, so I just know I had to be ready when my opportunity came.
04:21 When Draymond gets tossed outta there, what changed the, what vibe changed and how do you guys respond to that?
04:28 When a player like Draymond goes out, everybody has to do a little more just because how much he brings to his team, so we all knew we had to step up and fill that void that he has.
04:36 What was working so well offensively for you to get like 20 points and at one point not have any misses?
04:41 I’d probably say just not overthinking, taking the open looks, just trying to make the right plays, crashing and stuff like that, just keeping it simple.
04:49 How much does your confidence build seeing those first, I think, eight shots including free throws go inside the basket, moving forward? What’s your mental, how does that, like, momentum kind of roll forward?
05:00 For me, I mean, my confidence is always there because I know how much work I put in just going out there and playing the right way and making the most opportunity.
05:07 What do you notice about the way defenses react when Jimmy catches the ball and there’s space for him to work with?
05:12 Oh yeah, for sure, when he catches it, all eyes are looking at him, so that’s the right time to cut and stay spaced because he brings such a impact on that end and especially in those situations, because he can score, he can pass, he can do a little bit of everything, so he has a lot of attention on him when he gets the ball.
05:26 It’s well documented how good of a teammate Buddy is with you taking his spot in the rotation tonight. Did you still feel that support and what were your interactions with him like tonight?
05:34 Yeah, Buddy is the same every day. He’s gonna always be the guy that brings the energy to the team. He always supported me no matter what, so he definitely handled it well and he’s been doing a great job of just being the same guy every day, bringing the energy and just being a guy that everybody know they can look to to get some support.
05:56 One of the reasons that Steve said that he took you out of the rotation is because you’re a rookie and he wanted to give the vets a little bit more time. What were your conversations with him like and how did you process it?
06:06 Yeah, Steve was very transparent with me and I appreciate that. For me, I didn’t process it. I didn’t take it to heart or anything. I just knew that I needed to be ready when my opportunity came back around. I stayed in the gym and knew when my number was called, I was gonna go out there and make an impact.
06:23 What type of mentorship has Steph, Jimmy, the rest of the vets, given you any advice that really stuck with you going forward, especially during this period where you’re sitting?
06:32 Yeah, all the vets have done a great job of taking me under their wing and I’ve taken chips and pieces from each of ‘em, how they have been so successful in the NBA and stuff like that. They just said it’s a lot of up and downs. Steph told me he had eight DNPs straight in his rookie year and he was just saying just keep your head, keep working. He was, like, when your time comes, go back out and just be ready. Those guys have been very helpful for me and my success.
07:01 You had a big shot you hit in the corner and you had a moment where you looked in the crowd and you were pretty fired up. Do you remember what was going through your mind when that happened?
07:13 Just trying to win. I don’t really think a lot when I’m out there. I just trying to win games, so.
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07:19 JIMMY BUTLER: Continue to play basketball the right way. I’m a firm believer in that we play hard, we play for one another and we’re gonna be just fun. It’s not as bad as it looks. It’s a couple possessions here and there, a couple turnovers here and there. That’s just the game. That’s been our season so far.
07:39 What has been most wrong lately?
07:42 What’s been most wrong?
07:42 Yeah, what was maybe fixed a little bit?
07:46 I just don’t think that we’ve all been on the same page playing for one another and that’s not a bad thing. I think, I respect everybody wants to be great. I think tonight we realized what it’s gonna take to win and, honestly, I think we were all on the same page and how bad we wanted to win this after the ending of the game in Phoenix. We came to a certain conclusion, like, we all gotta be in this thing together. We win or we lose, but we damn sure don’t let nobody (inaudible).
08:19 What do you think the biggest difference has been for you the last couple games offensively?
08:26 Got the ball more, if I’m being brutally honest. So I was able to attack. That was it. Shoot the ball when I’m open, as always, pass it when I’m not, as always. That’s the route to success.
08:39 Has the spacing been better around you the last couple games?
08:42 I think so, but even when it’s not, I still think there’s ways I can give people the ball. I can get into the action. That’s on me to do that more often than not, but I think we’re moving in the right direction.
08:56 Get it earlier in the shot clock, basically, kind of thing?
08:59 What?
08:59 For you to get the ball earlier in the shot clock, maybe more options?
09:02 Don’t matter when. I just feel like if I’m in the option, even if I don’t get the ball, I feel like the defense has to react, maybe not as much as they gotta react to Steph, but maybe they gotta react a little bit.
09:13 Everybody in this locker room hates to lose, I know you hate to lose.
09:15 Damn right.
09:16 So losing those three games, what did it do to you mentally just to get back into what you want to get to?
09:23 Not much, because I already know, we already know what the problem is was. Now it’s just on us to go out there and do what we say that we’re gonna do to win these games. We’re capable of it. We all know that.
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