In another game more exciting than it should have been, the Warriors get a win in Detroit. The Motown mojo wasn't there, but they didn't give up and worked hard. The lack of talent caught up with them, though, and with Steph ramping up his assists and cooling his turnovers they just didn't have the backcourt talent to get the win.
Highlights
Festus Ezeli played well, and Jackson gave him more run. The downside was he managed to pick up 5 fouls in just under 19 minutes, but his overall play was sound, and made a huge difference on defense. The starting unit with Ezeli was a solid positive, and Skynet picked up 2 blocks
Klay Thompson shot about as well as you can expect anyone to ever, at .692 FG%. As nice as this was, it understates his third quarter, when he was 7 of 8 from the field and 5 of 6 from 3. After the game, he called Steph "unselfish" - which means Klay was getting the ball exactly where he wanted it.
Steph. 22 points, 10 assists, 4 steals, 1 turnover. Apparently, he's an actual point guard. And a very good one.
Midlights
David Lee: ho-hum, another day at the office with 20/10/4 to go with 4 turnovers.
Harrison Barnes: 10/5/3 before the game there had been discussion about his passing. As has often been the case this year, he answered that concern immediately after, showing that he's a better passer than he's been credited for. New rule of thumb for Barnes - don't assume he can't do it just because he hasn't yet. Every time we've done that, we've underestimated him.
Draymond Green: solid defense, and 3 blocks.
Lowlights
Jarrett Jack: 3-10 from the field, 4 turnovers, 5 fouls. That's some mean regression from his prior 4 games.
Carl Landry: 7 points, 4 rebounds. Not one of his strong games - fortunately, we didn't need one from him.
Identity
It's Steph's team, and it seems to have adopted his personality. Sometimes careless and sloppy - check. Sometimes overconfident - check. Sometimes the prettiest passing game you've seen in years - check. Sometimes lights-out shooting - check. If the Warriors seem to lack a killer instinct to close out games, it's one thing we haven't seen consistently from Steph yet. Think about it.
When Steph is really on, Klay becomes an extension of him, getting great looks that he can and will hit. When Curry is off, Thompson tends to be off as well. When Curry is off, Lee tries to do too much, and he's just not a full-time creator. The closest we have to another creator on the floor is Harrison Barnes. When his confidence level gets to the point that he realizes his talents are crucial, the Dubs will become a team to genuinely fear.
In the meantime, Golden State isn't Waiting for Godogut. Four games over .500, winning on the road, and off to check out the new arena in Brooklyn. We don't know quite where we're going yet, but be sure to enjoy the ride. And enjoy our opposite-number fans worrying about next year's draft picks and immediate trades, while we worry about playoff seeding, and what looks more like a solidly competent team every day.