The Golden State Warriors have been good for a few years, but now they’re finally great.
The team wrapped up a five-game road trip Sunday and were victorious in each game. In fact, they’ve won nine straight.
The trip ended with a 104-93 win over the Pistons in Detroit and one Warriors player is glad to see the trip come to an end.
Great way to finish off the road trip with the win!!! So excited to get back to Cali tonight !!!! It's been a long trip… #dubnation!!!
— Marreese Speights (@Mospeights16) November 30, 2014
Speights can enjoy that Cali sun for a few days. His team doesn’t play again until Tuesday.
The East-West trips are never easy, team’s usually get jet legged and underperform, but that hasn’t been the case with GS. With the win they improve to 14-2 on the season, a half game back from Memphis for first in the association.
But why all the wins? What’s so different in Golden State this year?
You can start with head coach Steve Kerr. Judging his coaching ability is premature, but saying he’s had a hell of a start isn’t. After Sunday’s win he joins Al Cervi (49-50 Nationals) and Bill Russell (66-67 Celtics) as the only coaches to begin their career with a 14-2 start to the season.
Kerr brings a lot of value to a young GSW backcourt. He’s been around the league a long time and he can offer guidance to his younger guys. But perhaps his best asset is his experience. Only a handful of people can say they’ve played alongside Michael Jordan in some of the biggest games of his career. He’s done that. And he’s done it well.
The next thing that comes to mind when thinking of the Warriors dominance is Klay Thompson. His salary went up, but so did his confidence. He’s increased his scoring from 18.4 to 21.4 PPG and his assists and rebounds have both improved, all while playing less minutes per game than last season.
Together, he and Steph Curry are averaging 46 points per contest. And right now that’s more than enough. But first round exist’s are only OK once.
So this team – with its young stars and rookie coach – finally have something to prove.