BOSTON — The Golden State Warriors will close out a five-game road trip this week against the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder, the NBA’s three top teams through three weeks.
“We’ll know if they’re for real after that,” a Celtics executive conceded before the first of those games.
Consider the first test passed. Behind Stephen Curry’s excellence, a pair of Kevon Looney put-backs and a Buddy Hield dagger, the Warriors closed out a fourth quarter that featured four lead changes. The Warriors’ 118-112 victory improved their record to 7-1, half a game better than the defending champions.
“It’s a statement,” said Hield, whose wide-open 3-pointer on a feed from Curry gave Golden State a 111-104 advantage with 47.2 seconds remaining. “If we don’t win this game, everybody’s like, ‘Oh, they didn’t play nobody.’ So you’ve gotta come make a statement on the road, right? That’s how the basketball world talks. They say if you haven’t played nobody yet, you get battle-tested, and you have to see if it’s real.”
Much of the hype around Wednesday’s game pit Jayson Tatum opposite Steve Kerr, as if the Celtics star might send a message to the Warriors coach. Kerr benched Tatum for two games at the Paris Olympics. You would not have known it — at least after the TD Garden crowd booed Kerr’s pregame introduction.
“From the beginning, the whole thing was, ‘We’re in this together. We’ve got 12 Hall of Famers, and we’re committed to winning,'” said Kerr. “And we won the gold medal, so I don’t give it a whole lot of thought.”
Otherwise, the 2022 NBA finalists went to work in a brilliant basketball game. One point separated them to start the fourth quarter. Derrick White’s seventh 3 of the night gave the Celtics a 95-88 edge midway through the final frame, and then what Hield described as “championship habits” took over. The Warriors scored on their next seven possessions, including all 10 of Curry’s fourth-quarter points, to seal the deal.
“Normal Steph,” joked Looney.
It is too early — and maybe too far-fetched — to consider the Warriors a serious title contender again. Curry is 36 years old. Draymond Green is 34. Klay Thompson is gone, and in his place is a collection of talented players, none of whom is a future Hall of Famer, most of whom Kerr is still trying to sort out.
Even Curry is not shooting for his fifth championship at this moment. After failing to make the playoffs last season for the third time in five years, he and the Warriors are first in search of relevancy again.
“We haven’t done anything yet,” he said. “A good team, or a relevant team, wins the games they’re supposed to win, steals a couple on the road against good teams and protects home-court. We’ve done those things so far, but we have two more games on this road trip — two tough tests. …
“I like where we are, obviously, but a long way to go.”
What gave Curry pause in that response was Golden State’s deep rotation, something he described as uncomfortable. He does not know who will be contributing on a nightly basis; he just knows they have to.
“Until proven otherwise, that’s how we have to play,” said Curry. “Coach has talked about it until he’s blue in the face already. Every practice, every film session, every pregame talk, it’s the same message. It’s who we are right now; it’s who we have to be. You obviously know as the season goes on rotations get tighter.”
It is working, though, especially on defense. The Warriors held Boston to a season-low 40 first-half points, sending waves of defenders at the Celtics. Gary Payton II likened Kerr’s 11-man rotation to a line change in hockey. “A lot of fresh legs,” he said, most of which were directed at Tatum. The Celtics star saw two defenders for most of the night, finishing with 32 points but just two assists to four turnovers. It did not help that Boston was without his co-star, Jaylen Brown, whose hip injury has listed him as day-to-day.
“Obviously Boston was without Jaylen Brown and [Kristaps] Porzingis, so this is not the best version of their team,” conceded Kerr, “but they’re still damn good. It’s a hell of a win in a tough environment.”
Golden State’s defense is now rated second in the NBA behind the Thunder, allowing 103.5 points per 100 possessions. That recipe — stout defense, full of energy, surrounding one Stephen Curry — is one that should win a lot of regular-season games. It has won five straight. Cleveland and Oklahoma City await.
“It was a great test,” Curry said from Boston. “We haven’t done a damn thing, but it felt good.”