Golden State Warriors vs. Brooklyn Nets - season recap a little early (3/25/26)

 There are small bits of positive spin, if you want to look.

Last night the Warriors were headed into the last 10 games of the season with only two games on the schedule against tanking teams and a virtual lock to be in the lower half of the Western Conference play-in.   While some fans have been rooting for the Warriors to tank (Bad form, in my opinion), I'm fairly certain their thinking goes no deeper than "Worse must be better." 

But in reality, it buys them nothing.  There's nine games left now and the Warriors hold a six game lead over Chicago in the battle for 10th draft seed.  They're going to get 11 or 12 based entirely on play-in results, so the Tank Commanders have to root for them to lose twice in the play-in just to get a 0.32% advantage in a shot for a top 3 seed or 0.46% for a top 4, and there's only three blue-chip prospects.

So bottom line... anyone who roots for Warrior tanking for any game the rest of the season is just a loser and should be dismissed as such.

Turning to last night's game, we saw the Warriors trail a G-league team of Brooklyn Nets most of the game, but manage to catch up and win by 2 at the end.  There were definite highlights from Kristaps Porziņģis who is impressing not only with his play, but also his availability.   He's now played 198 minutes in 9 games with the Warriors (Sitting for 13) after playing 413 in 17 games with the Hawks (Sitting for 36).  So that's 9 MPG (counting team games, not just the ones he played) over 7.8 MPG for Atlanta.  Hmm, not as drastic as I imagined, but still better, considering the POTS-like disease was well-known and I thought trading JK for him was a total salary dump.

No, I'm interested in focusing on the growth of the Warriors' secondary players this year.   Gui Santos would have definitely been an odd man out if the Warriors stuck with a 10 man rotation all year.  What we've seen of him since he's gotten regular time has been a revelation, as well as a partial redemption of Bob Myers' post-Looney draft record, now that Gui and Ryan Rollins have emerged as bona fide players.

Gui scored a career high 31 points (previous was 22 on March 7) and he did it the way he's been consistently doing it:  Drilling threes and showing deft body control and maneuverability near the hoop.   I'm not sure how to evaluate his defense, but by Defensive Win Shares he's 4th on the team this year.  The Warriors had a big need for someone with this size and ability, not to mention his high-energy play, and lo and behold, he's already on the roster.  It's like Peter Gabriel leaving Genesis and finding out that Phil Collins can sing.

The other guy who deserves respect is Brandin Podziemski.   There has been a lot of resentment building up against Brandin, probably largely because of the minutes and forgiveness he got from Steve Kerr compared to Jonathan Kuminga.  He dug himself a hole in the preseason by answering the question "Do you want to be as good as Stephen Curry?" with "I strive to be the same or better than Steph," which is a definite sports interview no-no.  When you play with a legend, your answer has to be that there's no possible way, but you'll do your best to be all you can be.

Last night, Sideshow Podz did three things that stood out to me as examples of how his "Little things" matter.

1. He was driving through the key right to left and they know he always wants to shoot lefty, so they blocked him and he cut right and finished righty.  That's about the third time I've seen him finish righty this year which means that he is both aware of its importance and he's working on it.
2. He's starting to figure out how to get the shooting foul calls on offense.  He got a few calls that look like ones he didn't get earlier in the year.
3. In the 4th quarter there was a missed Warriors shot that looked like it was going to one of three Nets in the key, all jumping together.   Most guys just get back on D in this situation, but Podz ran in there, reached high enough to tip it and it bounced off a Net to go out of bounds for a stolen possession.

These things are hard if not impossible to see in the stats, and they're the kinds of things that prove he is trying hard in every aspect of the game, and continues to work on all of it.  That's why I like him, even if he has less talent than the next guy.  He is trying to be the best he can be.

And although he's out for the season, Moses Moody has progressed this year.  His three-point percentage went up from a consistent 36-37% to 40% this year, and that showed linear improvement every month except December, and January continued the line as if December followed suit.   

One more shout out for the not-so-young Gary Payton II who has now made his last 16 shots: 5 for 5 last night, 8 for 8 the last game, and he made his last three in the game before that. He's been so consistent in recent months and provides game that the rest of the Warriors lack. 

So, the bottom line is that playing to win has demonstrable  value and playing to tank does not.  Even if this is a lost year and they make the playoffs (guaranteeing a mediocre draft pick) but get run, that will still mean they made the playoffs in three of the past four years, including the second round twice.   It wasn't that long ago that was a dream scenario. 

Think positively, DubNation.  Don't cost nothin'.

Golden State Warriors @ Houston Rockets (3/5/26)

Incredible short-handed win against the highly favored Rockets in their crib!

 Since Steph got hurt, and even more so since Kuminga was traded, this team has had games so full of life and energy that I find myself saying late "This is a great game" even though the outcome has been highly in doubt.  The wins over the Suns, the Nuggets, and the first win over the Grizzlies have been frenetic, energetic affairs with the explosion of joy that comes with emerging victorious.

Tonight they were missing a huge chunk of players to injury.  Not only Butler and both Currys, but Moody, GP2, Richard, and Porzingus.  They basically went out there with Sideshow Podz, Dray, Melton, Horford, and five guys who have spent time in the G league in the past year or two.  The Rockets are at full health (except for Van Vleet, out for the season like Jimmy) and Durant has been on a tear.   

But surprisingly, the Warriors led from the jump, and held that lead (except for one tie) until late in the third.  I had always been waiting for the Rockets to take over and assert dominance, particularly from Durant, who was pouring in his unstoppable jumpers casually, like he was just going to wait until it mattered to end it.

What was more amazing was that they were doing it without anyone getting really hot, certainly not hot like Reed Shepherd on the other team who poured in a game-high 30 points, including six sweet threes.  Steph really needs a guy like that to take some heat off.   

But the Warriors did not fold, and kept see-sawing leads in the fourth, and after an offensive rebound got passed around and sent to Horford in the corner to sink a three, it looked like the Warriors were going to either win or tie because they had the ball with about 20 seconds left and the game tied.  But they couldn't get anything going and Kerr smartly called a time out to get one last inbounds play to end it.  But nobody could break free and Gui hucked it up near the rim, giving Horford a chance to catch and put it in from about six feet.  He couldn't handle it, and it's possible Podz screwed up the catch by going for it too.  

So it's on to overtime, and it stays close until Podz nails a three over Sengun with the game tied, then the next time down he gets the ball and drives past Durant to dunk it in for a 5-point lead and about a minute left.  Seems like that would have ended it, but Amen Thompson pulled off a nice steal from Melton and took it the other way.  KD only needs to improve his free throws to have a 50-40-90 season and as fate would have it, he screwed up at the line.  When he had three shots (on a questionable foul on Melton... I didn't even see contact except a slight hip touch on his way up) he missed the third.  Then when he had two shots and needed to hit the first and miss the second he did it backwards... missing the first, and then accidentally banking in his intended miss.  Then the Dubs just had to run out the last five seconds or go to the line to seal it, and they managed to play keep away for a delicious win in front of the fans who really hate them.  The Warriors are 6-0 in postseason series against them, and today's upset has to really stick in their craw.  115-113 final.

I admit, I still like beating Sengun, who is a good player, yes, but just bully balls too much for my liking, and is always looking for foul call, even when Horford tracks him down on a breakaway and gets all ball from behind.  Plus he tried to back Post down once late and QP pushed back hard.  Sengun missed the hook.

Let's talk about specific players.

 

Brandin Podziemski played what Kerr called his best game of the year, scoring a team high 26 points with nine rebounds, five offensive.  He only had one assist, but it was a sweet ATO where he drove the lane and when Sengun collapsed on him, Dray went backdoor and Podz hit him for an easy layup.  And these were not empty stats... so many of his buckets and boards came at key moments.  Podz haters are just going to have to shut up and eat it, because he's been legitimately good, scoring in double figures in 19 of his last 24 games and pulling down 61 rebounds in the last six games!  And Steph hasn't even been on the court to make it easier on him!

Al Horford has been playing great for awhile now and tonight was an amazing game on both sides of the ball.  He had 17 points (3 threes) with 6 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal, and two big blocks.  It also seemed like he won every tip, especially the critical one over the taller Jabari Smith after the foul on KD was reversed with 20 seconds left in regulation.

Draymond Green did not screw things up with turnovers and missed shots, both only two.  Instead, he personally defended KD whenever possible and was on both ends of some sweet passes for layups several times.  Draymond played like we expect when the pressure and big lights are on.

D'Anthony Melton continues to be the guy who cannot be denied access to the hoop and scored 23.  He made up for his touch foul on KD late by getting the second offensive rebound off his miss and putting it back in before he came down.  

Gui Santos had "only" 14 points (none threes) along with six rebounds, six assists and he turned it over seven times.  But I continue to be impressed with his energy and his patience down near the hoop.  He made a wrong foot layup high off the glass on continuation after Shepard fouled him, and it had such touch.

LJ Cryer, two-way player, played 20 minutes, partly to give Melton a break, but he was a sharpshooter extraordinare.  He went 4 of 8 from deep, but it felt like he was hitting all the key ones.  That's gotta feel good.

Steve Kerr has also been taking undeserved grief.  All these close and late wins have Steve's fingerprints all over them, whether they are ATO plays, surprising but functional matchups, or whatever he does to pull the energy out of these guys.  They are committed to Kerr ball, and it's beautiful.  I particularly noticed tonight that there were a lot of drive and kicks, but they weren't fake drives that were intended to kick out all along.  I like seeing that.  The Warriors did not depend on gunning threes tonight, and it paid off with killing the Rockets in paint points, while the Rockets were tied or better on every other key team stat. 

Great fun, Warriors!  The heart and development we're seeing is both entertaining and a good investment in the future.  We may be out of the real hunt, but this is far from boring.