Final score: The Warriors pick up win number 50, defeating the Nets 114-101

The Golden State Warriors collected their 50th win of the season by defeating the Brooklyn Nets 114-101. That makes it the fifth straight year that this team has reached the 50 win mark.

The win also keeps the Dubs on pace with the Houston Rockets, who also picked up their 50th win over the Thunder earlier tonight.

Stephen Curry lead the way for the Warriors with 34 points and all the starters ended the game with double-digit scoring.

Despite what the final score may indicate, the game was quite competitive and credit the Nets for playing hard and scrappy in the midst of another tanking season.

The game itself was a microcosm of what this season’s rendition of the Warriors has put forth — a team that at its height, is a masterful display of pure basketball destruction, but also prone to losing focus and allowing self-inflicted damage.

One horrid quarter

After building a 16 point lead on some excellent all-around play, the Warriors looked like they were ready to call it night once the second quarter got started.

Lackadaisical defense, a lack of any offensive flow, and a handful of turnovers helped the Nets climb all the way to stun the crowd at Oracle and take a 5 point lead into the half.

David West’s absence was quite visible as the second quarter unit he’s normally a part of had some trouble generating any good looks.

The Warriors only managed to score 4 points through more than half of the quarter.

Meanwhile, the Nets abandoned their early game strategy of chucking up as many three-pointers as possible in favor of attacking the basket. It worked quite well as the Warriors defense conceded plenty of open lanes to the rim with a lack of effort.

Three great quarters

Luckily the rest of the game was full of great Warriors basketball that included a magnificent 25-0 run in the first quarter that exhibited some of the best two-way basketball the Warriors have put forth this season.

The Dubs would win the second half 66-48 that helped them finally put away the Nets midway through the fourth.

The defense during these stretches were the complete opposite of that second quarter performance, in that the Warriors players were active and managed to nab a handful of steals that they managed to convert into fast break points.

Curry flames on again

Curry continued his streak of excellence since the all-star break and hardly looked like that ankle tweak he experienced in the previous game against the Atlanta Hawks was effecting him at all.

He lead the Warriors in scoring in the first half to keep the team afloat while Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant were getting into the groove and followed that up with a 17 point third quarter.

In Curry we trust, and he continues to deliver.

The Draymond bounce back

Draymond Green had a rough game to start, and midway through the third it looked like nothing would go his way for the night.

Passes were slipping left and right off of his fingers on a handful of dimes delivered by Curry that ended up as turnovers instead of points.

It all culminated with him blowing an open dunk, getting denied sternly by the rim.

As the camera zoomed in on his face after that play, you could almost feel the tension and distress running coursing through Green.

He knew he wasn’t playing well and had a large role in why the Warriors couldn’t pull away from the Nets.

Steve Kerr would sit him after that play. But in true Draymond fashion, once he came back into the game, he was lights out.

On the defensive end, he had a hand on a number of rejections and DPOY level coverage on the court to help stave off the scrappy Nets.

On the offensive end, he hit a floater and a three-pointer to cap off a 16 point, 9 assist night to help offset his 6 turnovers.

Jordan Bell leaves with an ankle injury

Bell looked a little more fresh this game and had a game-leading plus/minus of +24 in 10 minutes.

Unfortunately, he landed awkwardly on his right ankle again and had to leave the game immediately.

Post game, it looks like it’s nothing serious. But that’s still a blow considering the Warriors were looking to get him more acclimated before the playoffs start.