Curry's 42 leads Warriors over Pelicans; Dubs continue avenging CP3 against former teams

3-0 away from the Bay Area to start this season is a very good sign for Golden State.

The Golden State Warriors are now 3-1 on October 31st after handily dispatching of the New Orleans Pelicans 130-102 in Louisiana.

After losing their home opener, the Warriors have reeled off three straight victories, all away from Chase Center. Wait are the Warriors a good road team again?

Ruh roh, don’t tell me the Golden Empire has suddenly remembered the joy of snatching the hearts of 20,000 unruly fans out of their chests. Could this team challenge the 34-7 road record the 73-win Dubs pulled off in the 2015-2016 season? If they’re going to, it’ll be the result of Hall-of-Famers fusing with energized role players to share the ball, shoot with confidence, and play lockdown defense (INCLUDING REBOUNDING).

Kinda like they did last night!

Curry and Chris Paul are unreal on the same team

It dawned on me at the start of this game that this road trip was turning into a trip down memory lane for new Warrior Chris Paul. Two nights ago he was back in Houston, where he was a part of some very memorable Houston Rockets teams that couldn’t quite get over not being clutch Golden State’s dominance.

And then last night he was back in New Orleans, the city that drafted him and where he got his illustrious career started up. Before he was the leader of the Lob City Clippers, he was a spectacular young point guard giving Kobe Bryant’s Lakers maximum problems.

Maybe that’s why Curry decided to incinerate both of those franchises to remind CP3 that in the Golden Empire his future is brighter than his past.

First Curry burnt the Rockets to ash. Then his hot finish from his blockbuster fourth quarter in Houston carried over into a blazing performance in New Orleans. The Chef served up Bayou sized bowl of spicy gumbo with 42 points on 15-of-22 shooting (!) with 7-of-13 makes from three-point range bahahahah. He also added 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals.

This dude is in year 15 and is still crushing wills with his ridiculous skill and determination. We’ve never seen a player as prolifically efficient at the sport with the showmanship to match, and it’s almost becoming unfair to compare him to the career’s of other elite point guards.

Speaking of other elite point guards, Paul is exemplifying the traditional job description associated with the position: making teammates better, including Curry apparently. Per Anthony Slater, Gary Payton II believes CP3’s taking a huge load off of Curry’s shoulders by assuming playmaking responsibilities and carrying non-Curry lineups.

Paul was a tied for a team-high +17 plus/minus in 25 minutes as a reserve, tallying 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists with 2 steals. Both guards collecting at least 5 boards and 5 assists points to their effort and versatility. Then you add that to Draymond Green adding 6 rebounds and 7 assists of his own, and you have a trio of high IQ distributors capable of wrassling a rebound and pushing pace the other way.

Also shout out to CP3 for hitting his first three as a Warrior!

Defense matters

104, 114, 95, 102. Those are the points scored by game by Golden State’s opponents through the first four games of the season. I thought we were in the era where teams couldn’t be guarded because of the soft rules and the proliferation of the treyball?

The Warriors defense currently has the sixth best defensive rating in the league per NBA.com. They’re also fourth in opponent’s field goal percentage (41.7%) and fifth in opponent’s 3PT% (29%).

Throughout their dynastic run, Golden State has relied on a stingy and versatile defense to stymie opponents. That’s when those barrage of golden triples really create separation and end the game early. Just like it did last night when they held the Pelicans to 40% shooting from the field, 29% from beyond the arc.

I know the Pelicans were missing a star scorer in Brandon Ingram, but Zion Williamson and C.J. McCollum are more than capable of putting up big number in their own right. Last night the Warriors had them in Pelican Bay, limiting the ultraathletic Williamson to 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 turnovers while McCollum scuffled to 19 points on 7-of-21 shooting from the field.

And for that defense to show up on a night when the team didn’t have Jonathan Kuminga and Klay Thompson, two of the team’s better defenders, shows that the Dubs are galvanizing together in grit and joy for their jobs.

One clear sign of that is the rebounding advantage, as the Warriors crushed the Pelicans on the glass 64-39. Golden State had seven players who grabbed at least five boards last night, led by Dario Saric’s 10 off of the bench. Shout out to rookie guard Brandon Podziemski who snagged 8 rebounds of his own!

And take a look at the other rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis, who tallied 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 blocks (!) in 20 minutes off of the bench. He’s actively challenging shots around the rim and making his presence felt in the way we all hoped James Wiseman would.