The red-hot Golden State Warriors can put away the suitcases for a while. They’ll play their next seven games at home, beginning with a matchup against the much-improved Detroit Pistons on Saturday.
The Warriors have won 10 of their last 12 games, including a 4-1 road trip capped off by a 121-119 victory over Brooklyn on Thursday. The Nets built an early 22-point lead but Stephen Curry carried Golden State on his back with a 40-point performance.
During the road swing, the future Hall of Famer averaged 34.8 points and made 32-of-62 3-point attempts.
“Steph just had an incredible trip,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Put on a show in every city. What he does, it’s amazing. The show he puts on, the joy that he brings to so many fans who come to see him play. Every fan base loves Steph.”
Nowhere do they love him more than at the Chase Center, Golden State’s home arena. The home fans will get to cheer him on for the next two weeks.
Golden State supporters suddenly have plenty to get excited about after the team wallowed in mediocrity prior to the All-Star break. The Warriors were below .500 until they caught fire, coinciding with the blockbuster trade that landed them Jimmy Butler.
The veteran forward supplied 25 points, six assists and three steals against the Nets. He’s averaging 17.1 points, 5.4 assists and 5 rebounds in 11 games with Golden State.
The addition of Butler has energized Curry and frontcourt stalwart Draymond Green.
“We can get great looks, and ultimately we know we can get stops,” Green said. “When you have confidence in both of those, there’s no need to waver. Steph was right. We were not built to come back like that (before the trade). But this is a totally different team. Totally different confidence level in this team.”
Like the Warriors, the Pistons have won 10 of their last 12. One of those losses came on Wednesday as they fell to the host Los Angeles Clippers 123-115.
They couldn’t stop James Harden, who scored 50 points. Harden made 14 of 24 field goal attempts and 16 of 20 free throws.
“Give (Harden) a ton of credit,” Detroit coach JB Bickerstaff said. “But if you’re not allowed to put your body on him legally, and he’s allowed to shoot 20 free throws, you’re not going to be able to guard it. You know what I mean? He’s an elite offensive weapon who can score in a bunch of ways. But when he’s allowed to get to the free-throw line 20 times, it just makes your job extremely difficult.”
That offset a 37-point, 10-assist output from the Pistons’ All-Star, Cade Cunningham. Unlike Harden, Cunningham didn’t visit the free-throw line often. He went 5-for-6 at the charity stripe, but Cunningham is looking to get more calls going forward.
“He’s been in this league killing for a long time, so I understand that. I respect it,” Cunningham said of Harden. “It’s hard for me to respect getting hit and not getting a call. But everybody sees that. I mean, they see other calls, they don’t see mine or they don’t feel like it’s a foul, so what can I say about that?”
–Field Level Media
