Threatened Warriors follow winning blueprint, fight way to victory

Threatened Warriors follow winning blueprint, fight way to victory originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The benefits of a deep roster were on vivid display Tuesday night, and not only because the Warriors rolled to victory with Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins watching from the bench.

Their 124-106 win over the New Orleans Pelicans was a small surprise considering they were slight underdogs, opened with three players making their first starts of the season and a 14-point first quarter that ended with Golden State trailing by 17.

Given the makeup of this team, what occurred over the next 36 minutes could become the norm. The Warriors’ 110-75 rout over the final three quarters was a direct result of being the more committed squad.

“They were just the more aggressive team, and we didn’t respond when they picked up their physicality,” Pelicans star Zion Williamson told reporters at Chase Center.

The Warriors are exhibiting an elite hustle game this season and there it was again. They chased loose balls with zest. They harassed the Pelicans to such a degree that they committed 24 turnovers, off which Golden State scored 34 points.

“Can you win can when you’re not shooting well? How do you do that?” coach Steve Kerr asked in his postgame news conference. “You defend, you rebound, you keep your poise. And everybody who comes off the bench continues to bring energy. That’s what I liked most about this game tonight. We saw all those things happen and that allowed us to turn it around.”

Each man taking the floor did so with fire in his gut and conviction in his heart. When Kerr announced last week that he intends to play his entire roster, it was apparent that all ears were engaged.

Everyone – particularly those who opened the season coming off the bench – inferred that the distribution of minutes would be determined in real-time and based mostly on merit.

“When Steve finds a group that is playing really well, he’s going to ride that wave,” Buddy Hield told reporters. “As he should, because it gives everybody energy from the bench, and it trickles down as a second-hand effect.”

This game was…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/threatened-warriors-winning-blueprint-fight-143656245.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-10-30 14:36:00

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