Warriors’ ascent to top of NBA reveals new championship DNA
Stephen Curry and the Warriors passed the Suns in the Western Conference
standings on Christmas Day
>Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) is defended by Phoenix
Suns forward Mikal Bridges during the first half of an NBA basketball
game Saturday, Dec. 25, 2021, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
>Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) is defended by Phoenix
Suns forward Mikal Bridges during the first half of an NBA basketball
game Saturday, Dec. 25, 2021, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
By KERRY CROWLEY | kcrowley@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: December 27, 2021 at 5:35 a.m. | UPDATED: December 27, 2021
at 5:46 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/12/27/warriors-ascent-to-top-of-nba-reveals-new-championship-dna/

In the aftermath of a game that tested the limits of the Warriors’
roster and their resolve against a top Western Conference foe, Stephen
Curry declared a 116-107 victory over the Phoenix Suns his team’s best
win of the season.

“Nice win on Christmas, nice win on the road against the best team in
the league, short-handed,” Curry said Saturday. “In that context, it’s
definitely a huge win. Everyone stepped up.”

Considering the success the Warriors have enjoyed in the face of
daunting challenges over the last week, Golden State has firmly
reestablished itself as a juggernaut and once again has a target on its
back.

In the span of seven days, five Warriors players including three
starters –Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green– have entered
health and safety protocols. Four of Steve Kerr’s top assistant coaches
have joined them.

With high-profile matchups against Memphis and Phoenix on the horizon
last week, it would have been easy for the Warriors to blame sluggish
play or underwhelming performances on a depleted roster. Instead, Curry
and Co. earned a pair of their most impressive victories of the season,
overtaking the Suns atop the Western Conference while proving they have
all the pieces in place to make another special run.

The familiar pillars of Warriors’ success –Kerr, Curry and Green– have
all thrived this season. As Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr. and several
others have now proven in expanded opportunities, the role players
surrounding the Warriors’ core have helped push this team’s ceiling to
championship heights.

No one would have raised an eyebrow had the Suns emerged with a
double-digit victory, but Saturday’s result instead served as the latest
reminder that Golden State’s title aspirations are legitimate.

Six Warriors wing players including Wiggins, Poole and Klay Thompson
were unavailable on Christmas Day while the Suns had hardly been
impacted by the recent surge in coronavirus cases and entered the game
with a NBA-best 26-5 record fueled by a 15-game home win streak.

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Saturday’s win pushed Golden State (27-6) past Phoenix (26-6) for the
top spot in the conference standings and followed another statement
victory for the Warriors, a 113-104 defeat of the Memphis Grizzlies on
Thursday at the Chase Center that featured a 46-point performance from
Curry. In both wins, the Warriors relied on Curry to assert his
dominance against a top Western Conference foe, but in each instance,
Golden State also received production from complementary players that
showed Kerr’s team has the rare combination of star power and depth to
eventually hoist a Larry O’Brien trophy.

The Warriors obviously need Curry to play at an elite level to reach
their lofty goals, and with Poole and Wiggins sidelined this week, he
hit 13 three-pointers and scored a combined 79 points against two of the
toughest defenses in the league.

“For (Curry) to see that type of defense and find his way to 33 points,
he was a plus-24 so even when he was not making shots, he was still
impacting the game just by pulling the defense over toward him,” Kerr
said in Phoenix. “Steph was brilliant.”

The most encouraging sign for the Warriors may have been the
performances of players who were thrust into the spotlight at a moment’s
notice.

Payton II, who started back-to-back games for the first time this
season, scored a season-high 22 points against Memphis while playing
suffocating defense against star point guard Ja Morant before adding 14
points and eight rebounds while helping the Warriors limit Suns star
Devin Booker to 13 points on 5-of-19 from the floor.

Porter, the other stand-in in the Warriors’ starting lineup, set a
season-high with 19 points against the Suns as he scored eight in the
final two and a half minutes to put the game out of reach.

“He can shoot the ball,” Curry said of Porter. “He just looked confident
and composed with what he was trying to do, getting to his spots and
just knocking them down.”

The Warriors hope rookie lottery pick Jonathan Kuminga, 19, can be a
consistent factor in their rotation by the postseason and on Saturday,
he showed a willingness to attack the rim as he finished with 12 points
and made 5-of-6 free throw attempts.

The contributions didn’t stop there, either, as Quinndary Weatherspoon,
who joined Golden State on a 10-day contract after four players entered
health and safety protocols, also chipped in with three made field goals
on three attempts.

Kerr said postgame he’d been impressed with the way Weatherspoon
defended Thompson in recent G League scrimmages and that defensive
intensity showed up in Phoenix as he had productive stints defending
Booker and veteran point guard Chris Paul.

Even without several top players, the Warriors refused to let a
well-rounded Phoenix team dictate the tempo as Golden State surged at
the beginning of the first quarter and again in the fourth to take a
two-to-one lead in the season series against Phoenix. Saturday’s
performance left a strong impression on Curry, who praised the work of
general manager Bob Myers and Golden State’s front office for building a
roster that could withstand such significant losses and still compete
with one of the league’s best teams.

“Those decisions are highlighted when it doesn’t go right,” Curry said
postgame. “So it should be highlighted when it does.”

If the Warriors continue to play like this, those decisions will be
highlighted deep into June.

--
Kerry Crowley | San Francisco Giants reporter
Kerry Crowley is a multimedia beat reporter who has covered the San
Francisco Giants for the Bay Area News Group since 2018. He spent his
early days throwing curveballs in San Francisco’s youth leagues before
studying journalism at Arizona State University. Kerry has covered every
level of baseball, from local preps to the Cape Cod League, and is now
on a quest to determine which Major League city serves the best
breakfast burrito.