Through nine games this young NBA season, the Dubs have dominated the third quarter.
In Sunday night’s 120-107 victory over the Houston Rockets, the Warriors closed out the third quarter on a 20-3 run to continue an early-season trend of third-quarter ownage.
Golden State is riding a four-game win streak which also coincides with four straight big third quarters. The Warriors padded their lead by at least double digits against the Oklahoma City Thunder (+13), Charlotte Hornets (+12), New Orleans Pelicans (+15) and Rockets (+12) in the third quarter.
What’s more, the team hasn’t had to rely solely on offensive explosions by Steph Curry to do it. He went off for 14 points in the third quarter against the Thunder, but was shut out against the Hornets, before scoring seven against the Pelicans and eight against the Rockets.
The third-quarter runs have been mostly defensive-driven, like Payton’s big effort against the Hornets on Wednesday night.
During the 20-3 run in Sunday’s third quarter, the Rockets’ lone points came from the free-throw line. The Rockets turned the ball over six times and got up just three futile shot attempts in the final five minutes of the third quarter, with the Warriors recording three steals. Perhaps it’s no surprise that Payton was on the floor for that duration of time, as the Warriors preyed on the inexperienced Rockets.
Listen to Bay Area sports talk now on Audacy and shop the latest Warriors team gear
Nemanja Bjelica also played a big role in the run, knocking down a trio of 3-pointers to push his season percentage to 55.6 (10-of-18) this season.
As Warriors fan @dbs408 noted, Golden State has the league’s best defensive rating in the third quarter but worst offensive rating in the second quarter.
It’s still early in the season, but a trend is definitely starting to emerge: The Dubs look like a different team coming out of the locker room at intermission. Whatever they’re doing at halftime is working.
Back in 2018, ESPN's Baxter Holmes did a deep dive on the Warriors' history of third-quarter runs. It's just another reason to think this season is something of a comeback tour for the Dubs.
