A Statement Win? What This Battle Means for Golden State
The Warriors survived a 34-19 third-quarter push by the visiting Denver Nuggets and recorded a marquee win with an undermanned squad. Golden State went up against the third-seeded team in the Western Conference without the services of their new ‘big three’, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Kristaps Porzingis. Playing their best ball in the first quarter, coupled with a 20-2 fourth quarter run, Golden State showed promising signs by competing with a team that knows how to win. Golden State’s rotation showed up, specifically two players, and should look to make the following remarks a habit.
Al Horford: Best Game as a Warrior
It’s tough to expect nightly performances like this, but when Al ‘Big Al’ Horford’s game is on, he can be a factor. Against the Nuggets, he nailed five first-half threes and shot six-for-seven overall from beyond the arc. These stats feel relieving if we consider that Horford hasn’t shot the ball particularly well this season, just at 33 percent. Additionally, his seven assists trailed only Brandin Podziemski’s nine for Golden State, and that may play an even bigger role than his own buckets. In Steve Kerr’s motion offense, all five players need to pass well. Horford’s seven dishes show his ability to find the last pass, and that especially matters in this system, where offense is generated through ball movement.
Brandin Podziemski: Near Triple-Double Filled up the Stat Sheet
Seven of the nine Warriors who took the floor scored double-digit points, and Podziemski was one of those. Highlighted by a sky-high floater that beat the buzzer during the fourth quarter, the third-year pro connected from inside and outside alike. He also delivered nine assists, but the stat that popped most eyes is the 15 rebounds he corralled. To say the least, that’s unusual for a player of his stature, but what this should tell fans is that Podziemski knows how to position himself smartly when an opponent takes a shot. Collecting that many rebounds will probably be an outlier, but leading his team in minutes and finishing just one assist shy of a first-career triple-double should give Podz plenty of confidence in himself.
Heart Over Height
Both teams grabbed 40 rebounds today, and while Denver had more second-chance opportunities, the Warriors made up that deficit in defensive rebounds. At a glance, this equality may seem insignificant, but it becomes important when taking certain things into perspective. Golden State went into the year as the NBA’s shortest team by average height, whereas the Nuggets ranked right outside the top 10 in that metric. One of the league’s best players, Nikola Jokic, stands at six-foot-eleven and plays the second-most minutes on his team. In contrast, the Warriors' tallest player today was Horford, who is three inches shorter and older than Jokic. When taking these facts into consideration, one conclusion can be drawn: despite their disadvantage, Golden State wasn’t scared away from the physicality required to grab a missed shot.
