34/82 W Grizzlies 124-109
35/82 W Hornets 110-105
36/82 W Jazz 112-107
37/82 W Trail Blazers 118-112
I mean—the short story is–we look like a team! There are so many good things to talk about. Should we talk about Kuminga’s ability to have stunning blocks and steals and in general, being a pest on defense? Or Klay playing long minutes with steady buckets, strong defense and even a few assists? Or Jordan Poole with another 40+ game? Or Donte? Or Ty Jerome? Cause I could talk about all of them at great length. These games *could* be the start of something.
I know, I know, you’re gonna say that winning at home is fine but they need to win on the road. That’s true. But right now, they also need to win at home. These games have been won not by the huge contributions of a single player, but through lots of players, and players that people were writing off a few weeks ago. Even the bench looks better–and I’m not talking about the actual bench unit, I’m talking about the actions of the players when they are sitting on the bench. At the start of the season, it was crickets on the bench. Now they are vocal and celebratory and encouraging. Is this also Steph’s influence? Possibly. He is an active fan, coaching up players, celebrating whenever he can, telling jokes to Jordan Poole and keeping him loose.
I love the way they are winning.
The Grizzlies game was a lot like the recent Celtics game. The Warriors stayed focused, especially on defense, for the entire game and showed that they are capable of rising to the challenge. Getting up for big games has not been their issue. The problem has been the less star-studded games. Games like the Hornets and the Jazz.
But this time around, the players that have been talked about either as trade potential - Wiseman, Moody, Kuminga–or not worth their contract - Poole or coming off injuries - Divicenzo-they rose to the challenge and then some. Jonathan Kuminga won the Hornets game for them. Where earlier in the season, he went for his shot too quickly and was prone to turnovers and errant passes, he is a different player now. It’s paying off for him in many ways. He’s getting offense because of his defense, he’s getting more minutes on the floor especially in the 4th quarter, he’s getting repeated praise from Kerr and Draymond and he’s getting wins. One of the sports cliches is about knowing your role. Kuminga has embraced his.
Ty Jerome was perhaps the reason the Warriors won against the Jazz–draining 3s, and getting more rebounds that you might expect. At the end of the Jazz game, Ty Jerome had his hand on nearly every play. It is the not the death lineup we expected, but Poole, DiVincenzo and Jerome are an interesting and winning combination.
And then there’s Donte DiVincenzo. Donte is involved in so many plays on defense, whether it’s a rebound or diving to the floor or getting a hand on something. He is not as explosive as Gary Payton II was, but he is definitely filling a large part of his shoes. And he is a steady offensive presence–capable of draining 3s but more importantly, confident as a point guard. It is clear that Poole is super comfortable with DiVincenzo as the other guard and even more comfortable when Donte is the point guard.
In last night’s game against the Trailblazers, it was Donte who dominated even though Poole scored 41 points. Although Klay and Kuminga were guarding Damian Lillard earlier, by the 4th quarter, it was all Donte. In the last three minutes, Donte had two steals (including one from Lillard), an assist and a 3 point shot to seal the game. He is a rock.
DiVincenzo and Jerome have both won NCAA Championships (at Villanova and UVA) and Donte also has a championship ring from his time with the Bucks. I think that experience shows. Although they are new to this team, they are not new to winning or what it takes to win or of high pressure moments or of the importance of creating momentum.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t shout out Draymond Green who has been outstanding. The performances of Kuminga, Jerome, Poole and DiVincenzo were built on the foundation that Green created. A focused Draymond Green is beautiful to watch.
Yes, a 4 game winning streak is something we took for granted last year. But how good does it feel now? The team is here, the band is back together, and right on time.
To close out 2022, I want to go on a tangent and share something I’ve been thinking about for weeks now — the friendship between Klay Thompson and Canon Curry, Steph’s youngest child.
Here’s a clip from the locker room last January, on Klay’s first day back playing after his two years recovering from injuries.
And then here’s a clip from a few weeks ago after the Celtics games. Notice the wave Canon gives before he speaks and Klay’s wave back before Canon says anything.
These two are buddies and I have already imagined the children’s book/animated series about them - “The Amazing Adventures of Klay and Canon” (shout out to Michael Chabon) that captures their exploits. They build a tree fort, they climb Mt Tam, they have a paper airplane contest, they go on Klay’s boat where Klay teaches him to spear fish and then realizes Canon is maybe too young for spear fishing but does it anyway. Their adventures are almost always outdoors and in an earlier time, they would have been described as “getting into scrapes”.
Because doesn’t it seem that for reasons that don’t make logical sense, that these two just get each other? Here’s to Klay and Canon, adventure buddies.
Happy New Year to all.