The Warriors sure know how to win the ugly ones. They also know how to morph terrible first halves into 20-point victories.
The Chase Center crowd wanted to cheer in the first half Wednesday but really didn’t have much to go rowdy about. Then Jordan Poole woke ‘em all up with a first-half buzzer beater from beyond the halfcourt logo. The Warriors rode that momentum into the second half and rolled to a 116-96 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers for their fifth straight victory.
"Defense set the tone," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game. "Defense led to the offense. The ball started to move because we were in transition. It was a beautiful second half."
Once again, the Warriors dominated the second half, turning a 19-point first-half deficit into an easy win. In the third quarter, they turned a nine-point deficit into a two-point lead, thanks to an aggressive stretch from Andrew Wiggins. The wing scored six quick points to start the second half and finished with 19 while also setting the defensive tone against impressive 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey. The Warriors scored 38 points off 21 Sixers turnovers.
"We were locked in," Wiggins said. "In the beginning of the game, we came out slow and not ready to play. We dug ourselves a little hole and we knew to get out of it, we were going to have to play harder than them."
Steph Curry also caught fire in the third while going tit for tat with his kid brother, Seth.
The Curry brothers matched up for the 15th time in their careers. Steph, 33, won for the 13th time.
Seth, 31, showed he is definitely a force to be reckoned with, though. The 76ers shooting guard finished with 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting while carrying the Philadelphia offense at times. Despite some menacing defense from Matisse Thybulle, Steph racked up 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-10 from 3-point range.
Steph knocked down a late 3-pointer when the Warriors already had the game in hand. He said he didn't know he outscored Seth until little bro reminded him after the game.
"I didn't know the stakes were so high on that shot," Steph Curry said.
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Golden State’s bench continues to make big contributions on a nightly basis and iced the game by spurring a 30-12 fourth quarter. Juan Toscano-Anderson delivered 25 high-energy minutes for the second unit, scoring 13 points, while Otto Porter Jr. dropped 12 points on 4-of-5 from 3-point range. JTA also posterized Sixers big man Andre Drummond and hammered home a big putback dunk in the fourth quarter while the Warriors ran away with the game.
"He gave us a lot of energy," Wiggins said. "He was all over the floor. The energy is contagious. He got the fans into it, he got the team into it. Gave us that next level to really push it."
The Dubs remain atop the NBA with their 16-2 and have shown they can win a multitude of ways. They beat you when they’re good and they beat you when they’re bad. They beat you whether or not Steph has an off-night. They beat you with suffocating defense. They beat you with their unstoppable runs on offense. They beat you with their bench.
It’s only Thanksgiving, but the Warriors look like the team to beat in the NBA.
