Dubs’ win over Raptors offers glimpse of successful blueprint originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Jordan Poole will get a bigger and brighter spotlight than any of his Warriors teammates, as he should, for his massive contributions to a 126-110 victory over the Raptors on Sunday in Toronto.
But this runaway train to success was a product of all the things coaches and team leaders have been urging since opening night.
Golden State’s most comprehensive road game this season combined four elements that, if consistently applied, could bury the despair of the first two months of the season.
The first is the pace and efficiency of Poole’s performance. The second is the solid play of Donte DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green, the two vets signed last July. The third is Draymond Green’s offense.
The fourth – and easily the most important – component is bringing energetic defense not for an isolated quarter or two, but for most of the game.
“It provides a blueprint,” Draymond Green said postgame. “We know how we have to play. Shots aren’t going to always go in the way they went in tonight, but we played good basketball. And usually, when you play good basketball, the shots will reward you. If anything, it’s a blueprint for how we need to play moving forward.”
1) About Poole: His career-high 43 points came on 14-of-23 shooting from the field, including 5-of-11 beyond the arc. His six assists tied DiVincenzo for a team-high. One more reason JP finished plus-11 over 35 minutes is that he avoided the kind of defensive lapses that pull him off the floor.
The point total is flashy, but the beauty was in the efficiency. Poole has had some wildly inefficient games this season, but this was – with both Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins unavailable – a spectacular output and a model of economy.
“He was incredible on both sides of the ball,” Green said. “And when you connect the game like that, things will go your way. We all know what a special talent he is. He’s been going through some growing pains. To see him come out tonight and have the game that he had – especially with Steph being down and us needing to get a win – was really huge.
“His effort on the defensive end carried over to the offensive end.”
JP picked up where he left off on Friday when he submitted a brilliant second half in the loss to the 76ers. It’s unreasonable to expect him to consistently drop 40, or even 30, but if the efficiency is high, the Warriors will gladly take the final numbers. And the effort on defense.
“He’s played a lot of great games for us,” coach Steve Kerr said. “If it’s not the best, it’s definitely one of the few best because he was great at both ends.”
2) About DiVincenzo and Green: When the Warriors added these two veterans last summer, they weren’t seeking anything magical. Just good veteran presences to neutralize a bench laden with youngsters.
The result thus far, for the most part, has been uneven, particularly with respect to Green. Not on Sunday. DiVincenzo and Green combined for 20 points on 12 shots, while adding eight rebounds and six assists.
Though DiVincenzo was in the starting lineup, he spent a lot of time with the remodeled second unit. He has been a plus player for weeks, so his showing was in line with his recent play.
JMG, however, came out of quicksand to deliver a wonderful performance – his most impressive of the season. His 15 points tied a season-high, and his seven rebounds were two off a season-high.
Defensively, his legs looked five years younger than they had at any time this season.
Donte and JMG were steady and generally avoided costly errors. Their play is why there weren’t many glimpses of Jonathan Kuminga (five minutes) and Moses Moody (11 minutes).
3) About Draymond: Draymond knew the circumstances. No Steph and no Wiggs meant the Warriors would be without a combined 49.1 points per game. There was a need for somebody to fill that void.
So, recognizing he was an obvious candidate, he took it upon himself.
Green drained three 3-pointers, accounting for all of Golden State’s scoring over the first 90 seconds. He finished with 17, while also coming up with nine rebounds and five assists.
It was his scoring, though, that made a huge impact. He punished the Raptors, who opened the game by defending Draymond as most opponents do – by ignoring him and playing 5-on-4 against his teammates.
“It’s good just to get him going, especially when they leave him so open,” Poole said. “He started off with three big 3s, and he shot it with confidence. And after that, they stepped up, which is a different coverage for him.
“It was easy for us to exploit the switches and the pick-and-roll game. After that, it was a domino effect. We were just really solid. We’ve got to continue to pay that way.”
The Warriors are 49-6 when Green makes at least three triples in a game.
4) About the defense: For a full two months, the plea for a more consistent defense had been unanswered no matter how loud it was.
And there it was on Sunday. The Warriors scrambled and scratched and played as if there was a bonus for defensive intensity. They did without silly fouls, and were whistled 21 times, one less than the Raptors. They held Toronto to 38.2 percent through the first three quarters and took a 22-point lead into the fourth.
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It was a quarter-by-quarter clinic. The Raptors shot 40 percent in the first quarter, 39.3 percent in the second and in the third quarter – which has been problematic – the Warriors turned to suffocation, holding Toronto to 35.7 percent.
The Raptors shot 57.9 percent in the final quarter, which was irrelevant.
Meanwhile, the Warriors were turning their defense into offense. They posted an 18-5 advantage in fast-break points. They rebounded well enough for a 23-18 win in second-chance points – an area of frequent trouble.
“This is the blueprint,” Kerr said. “We’re not going to be able to get 43 points from Jordan every night. He was spectacular.
“But the way we played was how we’ve got to play. Defend with a purpose; we held them to 22 free throws. The overall game was how we need to play, tough defense and keep it simple on offense. Get each other easy shots by making simple decisions rather than trying too hard and going in for wild attempts and some of the things we’ve done earlier in the season.”