If someone had told you a month ago that the Warriors would go on an eight-game road winning streak, would you have believed them? Because that's the reality.
After a nightmarish travel situation, Golden State (32-27) won 120-105 in Toronto (22-38) to tie the Lakers (33-28) in the Western Conference standings.
The road streak rolls on, with defense at the core
Winning eight-straight road games only happens if you're a team playing with energy, and concerted, intelligent effort on defense.
The Warriors of yestermonth(s) were not that team. After beginning the year with a 105.1 defensive rating (points allowed per game) in the month of October, that number got worse each month. By January, it reached 124.9, a damning figure. That number dropped to 110.1 in February.
There are plenty of reasons why that's changed, with Draymond Green obviously at the center of it. But there's been a buy-in on that end which did not appear earlier in the year.
Young players like Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga (and Brandin Podziemski) have provide effort and switchability on that end. Chris Paul and Gary Payton II seem to be constantly getting steals in the high post.
On the whole, the Warriors seem to have an understanding of what they're trying to accomplish. That's hard to quantify, but easy to see on the court. They look like a professional, competitive team that is no longer collapsing in brutal fashion in the fourth cquarter.
Kept it close to pull away in the second
This was a pretty ugly first half. The Warriors' sleep deprivation was apparent. It looked exactly like a team coming off a physical matchup in New York, who arrived in Toronto at 6 a.m., after being scheduled to arrive around 2 a.m.
The lack of energy was so apparent, that just after calling a first-quarter timeout, Steve Kerr called another, immediately after an Rapters 3-pointer. He lit into Jonathan Kuminga, then the rest of the team, uttering a series of very obvious expletives.
While they didn't exactly respond with clinical basketball, they kept it close, only trailing by three points at the half.
It was one of those situations where if you play mediocre basketball and remain that close, it's hard not to expect a win. And that's exactly how it played out.
They out-scored the Raptors 32-19 in the third, holding Toronto to 0-of-9 from deep. That defense showed up, and Paul (13 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals) put in some great minutes. They held of Toronto with ease in that final quarter.
Mix-and-match lineup gets it done
There was no Brandin Podziemski (right knee soreness), and still no Andrew Wiggins (personal), so the Warriors did a great deal of putting odd pieces together.
Those odd pieces got it done. Five bench players logged more than 10 minutes. Lester Quinones (6 points, 4 rebounds, one assist in 22 minutes), Jackson-Davis (7 points, 2 rebounds in 15 minutes) and Gary Payton II (4 rebounds, 4 rebounds, one assist, one steal in 14 minutes) all logged great defensive minutes.
But much of the credit has to be owed to Moody and Kuminga. Both were crucial in probing, rebounding and defending. Moody singlehandedly scored the first 7 points of the game and looked like the only player with the juice to play early on.
He finished with 17 points (7-of-13, 3-of-5 from 3-pt), 5 rebounds, one assist, 2 steals, 2 blocks. Kuminga had 24 points (9-of-19, 0-of-2 from 3-pt), 6 rebounds, 2 assists. On the wrong side of a back-to-back on the road, they were monumental.
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