Golden State Warriors: Winning Doesn’t Get Much Better

The Golden State Warriors aren’t just winning, they’re making NBA history every night they take the floor.

Wow. Just wow. What more can you say after the Golden State Warriors‘ 124-117 road win over the Los Angeles Clippers Thursday night? Sometimes words can’t do the poetry of NBA basketball proper justice, and very rarely can they capture the essence of this gargantuan title contender.

While most of the world slept, even the devout basketball purists who tuned in to the Dubs’ second meeting with their Pacific Division rivals may have been tempted to turn the game off after the first quarter. With Stephen Curry and Draymond Green both dealing with early foul trouble, Lob City stormed to a 41-25 first quarter lead on 71 percent shooting.

Chris Paul started the game with 18 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting in that opening period, Blake Griffin was making ridiculous shots en route to his 27-point night and it felt like the Warriors were heading toward their first loss of the season.

But even facing a 23-point deficit — which wound up being the largest comeback in the league this season — nobody seemed ready to count Golden State out.

Slowly but surely, the Warriors clawed their way back into the game, and the halftime deficit was only 14. And then in the third quarter, the Clippers still couldn’t put the game away, with the lead eventually dwindling all the way down to single digits.

When Draymond Green hit a corner three off a perfect pass from Ian Clark to end the third period, perfectly lining it up and taking his sweet time as if to savor the moment, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind: somehow, the Warriors were going to find a way to move to 13-0.

It wasn’t easy, and for all their reputations as chokers, the Clippers made them work for it. But no matter where they turned, the Warriors had an answer. Early in the game, when the Clippers threatened to end the game right then and there in that first quarter, it was Klay Thompson who finally found his rhythm to keep the Dubs afloat.

In the fourth quarter, Harrison Barnes opened up a scoring barrage with Thompson and Curry on the bench to pull the Dubs within one possession — something that’s just unfair for defenses who already have to worry about the Splash Brothers. Even when the Clippers built a 10-point lead with 5:35 left in the game, the Warriors were not deterred.

Simply put, it was one of the most entertaining, back-and-forth games the NBA has seen in a LONG time. Every time the Clippers got a big bucket or a three to momentarily extend their fourth quarter lead, Curry or Thompson or Andre Iguodala would respond with a clutch three.

Stephen Curry finished with 40 points and 11 rebounds — both game highs — on 11-of-22 shooting (6-of-14 from deep). Thompson had a season high 25 points, Barnes added 21 on 9-of-15 shooting and Draymond Green had a balanced stat line of 19-9-6.

But more important is that unforgettable fourth quarter, when the Warriors shot a staggering 11-for-15 from the field (73.3 percent) and an inhumane 8-for-9 from three-point range (88.9 percent). As tweeted by ESPN’s Kevin Pelton, the Warriors posted an unholy effective field goal percentage of 100 percent in that fourth quarter. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT.

And of course, two of Golden State’s three two-point field goals in the period came from Draymond Green, who broke free in a beautiful ATO (“after timeout”) set for quite possibly the play of the game:

Those are all jaw-dropping statistics and plays, but it wasn’t just the in-game stats that completely boggle the mind. For starters, the Dubs are just two wins away from tying the best start in NBA history at 15-0 (set by the 1948-49 Washington Capitols and since matched by the 1993-94 Houston Rockets). Three straight wins would give them the best start to a season in NBA history.

Over the next three games, the Dubs play the Chicago Bulls at home before traveling to face the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers on the road. The Bulls are a good team with or without the injured Derrick Rose, while inferior opponents in the Nuggets and Lakers represent trap games coming off such an emotional high against the Clippers.

The Warriors have been vulnerable in their last few games, so nothing should be taken for granted. Or, you know, the Dubs could just throttle them all by 20+ points. Either way.

But there’s still more fun to be had here. Aside from overcoming a 23-point deficit, aside from it happening against their biggest rival and aside from the first 40-point, 10-rebound game of Curry’s career, the Dubs are undoubtedly the most resilient, most unstoppable force in the NBA over the last two seasons.

You remember that statistic about how good the Warriors were in games in which they led by as many as 15 points at any point (68-0)? Well, how about in games where they trailed by 20 or more points at any point in the game?

MOTHER OF GOD.

But wait, I’m not done blowing your mind yet.

We’ve all heard about how good the Warriors’ small-ball lineups are, something that was fully on display when interim head coach Luke Walton unleashed it on the Clippers to close Thursday night’s game. But just how good is that small-ball lineup? Well, let’s just say Charles Barkley‘s post-game talk about this team needing post-up scoring basically amounts to blasphemy:

In 48 minutes, that small-ball lineup has outscored opponents by SIXTY-ONE-DECIMAL POINT-EIGHT POINTS. Starting the season off on a 13-0 killing spree would be fun for any team, but the way the Dubs are doing it is something unprecedented.

They’re the reason no sports league in the world can boast a better on-court/on-field product right now. They’re the embodiment of everything Steve Nash fans ever dreamed about during his Phoenix Suns days, only better. For the defending champion Golden State Warriors, they’re accomplishing something historic every single night they take the floor.

Thursday night’s win over the Clippers was only one game in an 82-game season, and the Dubs have their sights set on something more than a great regular season. NBA titles aren’t won in November, after all.

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But as this point, it’s hard to imagine how this season could be going any better for a championship team that was “lucky” last year…and could scratch the surface of that coveted 72-win regular season before all is said and done.