Here are five observations from the Warriors’ 129-118 win over the Jazz on Friday night in San Francisco, bumping them to 10-10 on the season. They are 9-1 at home and 1-9 on the road. Their next two games are in Minnesota and Dallas.
1. Steph Curry’s plus-19
Curry glided to another 33 points on 23 shots. He made six 3s for the eighth time this season. That’s 94 total made 3s, 24 more than anybody else in the NBA despite resting two games.
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His shooting splits now sit at 52.7 percent overall, 44.5 percent from 3 and 90.4 percent from the free-throw line. Curry is the only player in NBA history to qualify for the exclusive 50-40-90 club while averaging more than 30 points for the season (averaging 30.1 on 50-45-91 the unanimous MVP season). He’s on pace again. Curry is currently averaging 31.7 points.
But it’s his cumulative plus/minus that continues to exemplify his impact. Curry is on a .500 team that currently has the worst road record in the league but is still plus-140 for the season, the third-highest of all individual players. Friday wasn’t an overly spectacular night for Curry, but the Warriors outscored the Jazz by 19 in his 36 minutes.
2. Klay Thompson’s third-quarter 3s
The Jazz briefly took the lead in the middle of the third quarter. It remained tight deeper into the third. To that point, Thompson was 1-of-6 overall and hadn’t hit a 3.
In the final 3 minutes, 21 seconds of the quarter, Thompson made four 3s. This came at a pivotal point. Curry had subbed out earlier than usual to allow him to return quicker in the fourth, leaving the Warriors briefly vulnerable. But instead of bleeding points, they bumped the lead from four to 11 during that Thompson detonation.
“I thought that stretch was a key to the game,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I think, Jordan (Poole) also coming alive in that second half, knocking down those two jumpers to start the fourth quarter giving us a cushion. That was another key stretch. But I loved Klay’s game tonight. I think he was like 1 of 5 in the first half but never chased anything bad, just stayed patient and hit those big shots after we had lost the lead.”
Thompson finished 6 of 12 from 3. He’s now 23 of 42 from deep in the last four games. In that span, he’s jumped his season 3-point percentage from 33 to 38.9 percent.
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3. Poole and Draymond Green’s second-unit connection
Kerr mentioned that early fourth-quarter stretch for Poole. It came as a leading part of that reworked second unit — Poole, Donte DiVincenzo, Andrew Wiggins, Green and either Anthony Lamb or Jonathan Kuminga — which is here to stay.
They are creating an offensive identity. It is built around a ton of high-screen action between Green and Poole.
Here is a glimpse of it in the second quarter, leading to a Green layup.
Then here it is in the fourth quarter. Poole gets an open midrange shot after a screen and re-screen with Green gets him space to operate against Walker Kessler.
This new second unit with Green is just getting higher-quality shots on a more consistent basis than they had been before the rotational switch.
4. Defensive numbers
The Jazz scored 23, 28, 35 and 32 points over the four quarters — 118 total. This wasn’t a particularly stingy defensive effort from the Warriors, but they continue to nudge in the correct direction. They now rank 23rd in defensive rating for the season: 113.6.
But the Warriors were talking in 10-game intervals postgame. They were 3-7 in their first 10, reversing course for a 7-3 record over their next 10. During that most recent 10-game stretch, the Warriors have a 110.6 defensive rating, 14th in the league, a number that’d be a tad better had they not rested their stars in New Orleans.
“Our offense led to some difficult transition situations and we fouled a little bit,” Kerr said. “But all in all, I’m pleased with the effort. That’s a hard team to guard. They have all those vets who can shoot.”
5. Sound bite of the night
Draymond Green with an extended soundbite on the challenge that Kuminga, Wiseman, Moody face fitting into the Warriors pic.twitter.com/gj8xmsOeRC
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 26, 2022
(Photo of Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Collin Sexton: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)