If you were skeptical of the 6-1 record the Golden State Warriors had jumped out to, you weren’t alone. The schedule was exceedingly soft, with wins over Portland, Utah, Washington and two more vs. a New Orleans team that has looked like a mess.
But there were signs that something real was brewing. Those wins were not squeakers. They were blowing teams out with defense and depth, two typically stable identity markers. You thought a crack showed up in a 31-point blown lead to the Rockets, but the Warriors steadied themselves and Jonathan Kuminga pulled them through with an encouragingly assertive overtime effort.
It showed that the Warriors could respond to unexpected adversity. It’s difficult to have to ramp back up to win a game you thought was already over. That overtime was a pop quiz of sorts as the Rockets had all the momentum. Golden State passed it and took another positive step forward.
It all set up for a showdown in Boston on Wednesday, where the Warriors took their first true test against a top-shelf opponent. And man did they ever ace it, defeating the defending champion Celtics 118-112 while putting the stamp of validation on their early season success.
Let’s keep this in perspective. We’re not even three weeks into the season. One win doesn’t make a team a contender. But it does mean that the Warriors can, on the right night, not only play with, but defeat anyone. They can do this, first and foremost, because they defend like crazy.
So far only the Thunder are registering a better defensive rating than the Warriors, and the gap between Golden State and the No. 3 Rockets is an appreciable five points per 100 possessions. The Warriors are versatile, active, connected, and they kept themselves in the game on Wednesday despite an extremely poor offensive start with a high-pressure defense that held Boston to just 40 first-half points.
Sure, the Celtics were missing Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis, the latter of whom is yet to play this season and isn’t expected to suit up until December. It took an A+…
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