The Warriors did not catch the San Antonio Spurs at a great time, but they figured it out. San Antonio had won two of its previous four before this two-game split, and with no Stephen Curry, and after losing the first leg at home, the Warriors were asked to find themselves.
The Warriors ensured a split with a solid win Monday night that featured perhaps the most absurd dunk that has ever been recorded against Victor Wembanyama. Maybe it was more of a throw. Either way, Trayce Jackson-Davis wrote his name in lore in the 112-102 win.
Third quarter avalaaaanche
The Warriors did not excel early. San Antonio shot well from deep while Golden State struggled.
They trailed by as much as 11, and were down 70-62 in the early third quarter. But they drew close, and once Victor Wembanyama left the game with a 72-71 Spurs lead, the Warriors went pulled away.
Much of that is owed to Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis.
After Wembanyama checked out, Podziemski backed down Tre Jones for an and-one. After a stop, Jackson-Davis faked a handoff to Podziemski, and dunked all over Jeremy Sochan. He got a nice defensive rebound on the other end.
After Andrew Wiggins got a layup off a Podziemski miss, Podziemski drew his 33rd charge of the season, and Wiggins drove to the rim on the other end.
Jackson-Davis got another defensive rebound following a stop, then passed and screened to set up a wide-open Wiggins 3. On defense, Podziemski got a steal, setting up a Chris Paul lob to Jackson-Davis. The latter secured a monstrous rebound and absurd finish on the other end.
The Spurs eventually ended a five-minute scoreless drought, but the Warriors' 26-4 run did game-winning damage. A graceful Podziemski layup on the other end netted a timeout just after the Spurs ended that drought, to push it to a 88-74 Warriors lead.
The fourth quarter opened with a Podziemski steal that bounced off a Spurs player and was initially called incorrectly by officials. Steve Kerr challenged successfully, and Jonathan Kuminga got a free dunk off the inbounds play.
All of those three young guys provided. Kuminga had 22 points (9-of-18, 2-of-3 from 3-pt), 5 rebounds, an assist, a steal, a block and a couple turnovers. Podziemski had 14 points (5-of-10, 3-of-5 from 3-pt), 8 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal, a block and a turnover. Jackson-Davis went for 13 points (6-of-7), 11 rebounds and 5 assists. Those latter two came off the bench.
Wiggins' aggression, and Paul's excellence
When Andrew Wiggins is proactive, it pays dividends. He is so often content to sit in the background, and lay off the gas pedal, especially on offense.
That was not the case Monday night. Wiggins was aggressive, especially driving to the rim. His effort, especially on the offensive glass, was apparent in that third quarter monsoon by the Warriors.
That offensive effort almost always carries over to the defensive side of the ball. Wiggins wasn't at his lockdown self, but his length created problems for the Spurs.
His performance was wildly efficient, too. He put in 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting (2-of-3 from 3-pt) with 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a turnover.
That aggression was established by Chris Paul, who was masterful. He said on the postgame show that he spoke to Wiggins before the game, and told him that both of them needed to be more aggressive.
He absolutely was, and came up huge late (more on that below). He was steady, proactive, and incisive. He had 19 points (9-of-19, 1-of-4 from 3-pt), 9 rebounds, 8 assists and a turnover.
Weathered the Wembanyama storm, then postered him
It got a little stressful in the fourth, when the Spurs cut the Warriors' 17-point lead down to eight. Of course, that was the product of Wembanyama, a player for whom our language does not have the words to adequately describe. He had 27 points (10-of-25, 3-of-9 from 3-pt), 14 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal, 2 blocks and 3 turnovers.
But Paul was excellent, too. He settled things when the Spurs cut into the lead with a mid-range jumper, then faked out Wembanyama and hit a cutting Kuminga for a free dunk.
After Draymond Green picked up his fifth foul, and a Devin Vassell 3-pointer -- he (5-of-8 from deep, 17 points ) and the Spurs were better than usual from deep, shooting 44.4 percent (12-of-27) -- Paul got to his spot just inside the free throw line to hid a silky mid-range jumper.
Both teams went cold for a few minutes, until a lob to Wembanyama broke that brief deadlock with an and-one that fouled out Green inside of the final three. Wembanyama swatted Kuminga disrespectfully, then rebounded over three Warriors on the other end.
It seemed like a moment Wembanyama might just go scorched earth. Instead, he missed a key bank shot against Kuminga at the two-minute mark, then missed a reach-around shot attempt that Jackson-Davis came up with.
The dagger from Jackson-Davis followed. To call it a dagger is a gross understatement. It was a biblical dunk. It was the textbook definition of a poster, executed against a man who is the living embodiment of every teenager's max-stat-max-size NBA2K create-a-player.
Just as the English language is devoid of the words to accurately describe Wembanyama's alien-like nature, we face the same situation with Jackson-Davis' dunk on that man. Do yourself a favor, and watch. Then watch again.
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