This is a Warriors team that misses Draymond Green.
It's a Warriors team that desperately wants to fast forward to the All-Star break.
But the Warriors found a way to not let a small skid turn into something larger on Saturday night.
A game in mid-February is, fundamentally, inconsequential. But I can't help be impressed by the Warriors scrapping and clawing to Saturday night at Chase Center.
Klay Thompson deserves the bulk of the kudos for the Warriors' win. The sharpshooter dropped 16 points of the Warriors' 22 points in the fourth quarter to lead Golden State to the victory.
Should Saturday's game have become so close?
Probably not.
But that's the NBA, and while the character of the Warriors should never be questioned, that's not to say it cannot be lauded. That kind of effort they showed Saturday — as aesthetically displeasing as it was for stretches — will do this team will during the postseason.
A few other thoughts on a clunky but entertaining game:
— It's not fair to say that LeBron James went 1-for-10 in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game, as the box score indicates. It was more like 1-for-8.
Oh, and four turnovers and a game-losing missed free throw, too.
The King received little to no help from his court — more on that later — but in the meantime, props need to be given to the Warriors defenders who kept James in check.
Otto Porter was marvelous for the Warriors Saturday. His rebounding, spacing, and weight played a huge role in the contest. He held James to 0-2 shooting in the fourth — and it was clear that LeBron wanted nothing to do with driving against the veteran wing early on in the quarter.
Nemanja Bjelica was able to pick up a stop on James — who saw that coming?
Thompson picked one up, too.
But it was Andrew Wiggins who drew the James card most often Saturday, and he was marvelous on No. 6 in the fourth, holding him to 1-of-4 shooting.
It highlighted the fourth-quarter formula for the Warriors, which, of course, takes a hit without Green in the lineup.
But, at its core, it's Wiggins putting the clamps on the opposing team's best perimeter player and Thompson taking the extra energy he has because he's a help-side defender and using it to make it rain.
When Green is back, the Warriors are going to have one hell of a closing four — Green, Wiggins, Thompson, and Steph Curry.
All of them can play defense — three at exceptionally high levels (though we'll see on Thompson in due time). Three are going to be able to score at an All-Star clip.
And all four fit together in a near-perfect way.
Toss in Andre Iguodala or Kevon Looney for defensive purposes, or Otto Porter or Jordan Poole for some offense, and the Warriors can have a little fun at the end of games.
Will there be some teams that can match? Of course.
But there won't be many.
— Thompson's game — as impressive as it can be at its best, as it was late Saturday — carries an Easter egg that showed up again and again and again on Saturday:
If you give him the ball on a second-chance possession, he will shoot it.
No contemplation. No dribbling. No looks around the court. The shot clock might not even be re-set, but that ball is going up — and probably going in the basket.
It's happened for years — I remember first being told about in my second game covering the team in 2014.
And while it, of course, showed up a few times over the last month, Saturday was a concentrated dose.
Thompson had three made 3-pointers and a long shot where he had his toes on the line in the fourth quarter against the Lakers.
All four makes came after the shot clock had been reset.
Thompson could have been classified as a ball stopper before his two-and-a-half-year absence. At least on the nights when he was missing — no one complains about the ball stopping when it goes through the net.
But Thompson has been anything but a ball-stopper since his return. He's dribbling more, facilitating for his teammates, and driving at a much higher clip than I (admittedly hazily) remember.
Thompson still has that shooters-gotta-shoot DNA, though, and it came through in 8K resolution Saturday with those second-chance 3-pointers.
It's a bit funny to watch, but it's always a thing of beauty when No. 11 shoots.
— No one can deny it anymore. Jonathan Kuminga is a bonafide NBA rotation player and perhaps even an impact player for this Warriors' squad.
You know, by now, how I feel about the 19-year-old's game. It's absurd how polished he is.
Simply think about how well Kuminga cuts.
He wasn't doing that at the beginning of the season. Even in 2021, he was barely doing it and he often lacked the necessary incisiveness.
Now? He's one of the best cutters on the Dubs in an offense that demands cutting.
There are veterans who have been in this system for years who can't do it like he can — and making hard cuts is not a question of athleticism.
Hell, remember last year, when Kelly Oubre refused to cut, like, at all.
That's a guy who has made $50 million in the NBA and yet lacked a single ounce of basketball IQ to go along with enviable athleticism.
Kuminga is likely the best athlete on any court he steps on, save for a game against the Bucks, and he's dripping with basketball IQ.
Truly, it's a credit to the G-League. It's a credit to the Warriors' veteran leaders. It's a credit to the Warriors' coaching staff. It's a credit to the Warriors' front office for seeing it in this guy.
But never let the credit leave Kuminga.
The kid is special. How special? That will take years to know.
But special enough to be a critical player for a title contender as a teenager.
That's, simply, not normal.
Enjoy the show — it's only getting better.
