You could make a very strong argument that the players who didn’t suit up for the Warriors would have beat the team Golden State trotted out to the floor Tuesday night. Seriously.
Which starting five is better? Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Otto Porter Jr. and Draymond Green? Or Jordan Poole, Damion Lee, Moses Moody, Juan Toscano-Anderson and Kevon Looney? I think we all know who we’d pick.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr trotted out the latter lineup against the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday and still came away with a 124-120 victory in one of the gutsiest wins of the season. Not to mention Andre Iguodala (knee) and Nemanja Bjelica (back spasms) were also unavailable.
“I loved our effort,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “The fact that we made 20 threes without Steph, Klay, Otto, down the line, Andrew, Beli – pretty remarkable performance by our guys because the Spurs played a great, great game. They couldn’t miss themselves. It was a really phenomenal NBA game.”
Essentially, Golden State played with a ‘B’ team squad but still pulled out the victory. Along the way, rookies Moses Moody (20 points) and Jonathan Kuminga (19 points) helped carry the Warriors offense when they needed it most.
“It makes me super excited, just seeing the way we’re going,” Kuminga said. “Just seeing the way we are right now to where we’re going, I just feel like we’re building something new and strong as players. I feel like it’s going to be fun to watch.”
The Warriors trailed by as many as 17 with 2:02 left in the third quarter but outscored the Spurs 35-16 in the final period to earn the improbable victory.
At one point, Kuminga took over the game. He simply looked like the best player on the floor in the fourth quarter, when he dropped in 14 points, including a clutch 3-pointer with 5:32 remaining to pull the Warriors within five. He also threw down this ridiculous windmill dunk.
In the game’s most heated moment, Jordan Poole knocked down a three with 17.9 seconds left after Moody secured a key offensive rebound on a previous Poole miss.
It’s fitting that the Warriors win happened in San Antonio. Coach Steve Kerr looks to the Spurs and their decades of success under Gregg Popovich as motivation.
“Everybody knows Pop is my mentor in coaching,” Kerr said. “The Spurs are the model for everybody in the NBA.”
For Kerr, the key is longevity. The Spurs first won a title with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili in 2003 and then won three more with that group, finishing with the 2014 title.
The Warriors want to win now and win in the future, which isn't easy to do in the NBA.
“They just built something so special that they were able to withstand all the ups and downs,” Kerr said. “It’s not easy to do. That’s what we’re trying to do here. I’m not sure anybody’s been able to do it and we have a long way to go to match that. But that’s the goal is to be like those guys down the hall.”
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The Warriors have already won three championships with their current core of Curry, Thompson, Green and Iguodala, but Kerr is thinking even bigger.
“That’s the whole idea,” Kerr said. “We want this franchise to be special. We want it to be great for a long time. I know I want this team to succeed long after I’m gone from coaching and I think all of our veteran players feel the same way. We feel like there’s been a legacy that’s been established here that we’re all very proud of.”
Golden State has now won seven in a row and is 39-13 overall, the NBA’s second-best record behind the Phoenix Suns (41-9). But wins like Tuesday night were huge for the development of players like Moody, Kuminga and even two-way players like Chris Chiozza and Quinndary Weatherspoon. The Warriors’ nine-man skeleton crew deserves a big round of applause against a healthy Spurs squad.
“Just shows who we are as a team,” said Poole, who scored a game-high 31 points. “Even more importantly, it just shows what our character is like. Coming from the top of the food chain, all the way down. Everybody’s excited for each other and wants to see everyone succeed.”
