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 On a night when the Warriors honored the 1974-75 club, Barry and his
ring-bearing teammates got a first-hand look at a defense that
finally gives the franchise a shot at a second title.
Golden State held the Washington Wizards without a field goal for
nearly the first 11 minutes of the third quarter Monday night,
helping the Warriors extend a three-point lead to 24 by period's end
en route to a 107-76 victory.
By completing a 6-0 sweep of their homestand, the Warriors (57-13)
extended their lead over the Los Angeles Clippers in the Pacific
Division to 11 1/2 games and clinched no worse than a tie for their
first division title since the 1975-76 season.
"That's definitely important," said Warriors forward Draymond Green,
a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. "You set goals. Winning
the division was definitely a goal. To clinch it now says a lot."
On a night when the Warriors' 4-0 sweep of the then Washington
Bullets in 1975 was remembered, Golden State put on display the type
of suffocating defense that is critical to producing the league's
best record.
The Warriors entered the game having held its opponents to a
league-low 42.5 percent shooting, and they improved on that
significantly by harassing the Wizards into 1-for-18 shooting in the
third quarter and 27-for-81 (33.3 percent) overall.
"We have an excellent defensive team," said Warriors coach Steve
Kerr, whose club held an opponent under 80 points for the third time
this season. "It's been a progression. They were already good last
year. I feel we've gotten better."
Washington's point total was its lowest of the year, below the 77
posted in a 20-point loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Feb. 25.
"We didn't come out with the same energized people we had in the
first half," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said of the third quarter.
"That leads to missing shots, turning the ball over, defensive
lapses. It's a troubling trend that we've had for the last 20, 25
games."
With a 13th consecutive home win, the Warriors swept the season
series from the Wizards for the fourth time in five years.
Thanks to a stellar defensive effort by the Wizards in the first
half, the game was very much in doubt when the Warriors went into
the intermission with a 52-49 lead. Golden State sank just 39.2
percent of its shots in the half.
However, by the time Washington made its first field goal of the
second half, the outcome was settled. The Wizards finally converted
a shot with 1:02 remaining in the period, after 15 consecutive
misses, on a turnaround jumper by backup big man Kevin Seraphin.
In the meantime, the Warriors used five 3-pointers to pull away
gradually. Point guard Stephen Curry had three of them, accounting
for nine of his game-high 24 points.
"I think our 'D' was great all game," said center Andrew Bogut, a
defensive anchor for the Warriors. "The difference in the third was
we were able to make shots.
"Everybody thinks of us as having a bunch of good shooters. The
reason we're winning games is we're getting stops so we can get
those shots."
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Curry went 5-for-8 from 3-point range overall and made eight of his
14 shots in all. He complemented his scoring with a team-high six
assists.
Bogut was the defensive standout, grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds
and blocking two shots. Backup big man Festus Ezeli pulled down 10
rebounds as the Warriors dominated the backboards to the tune of
62-38.
Reserve center Marreese Speights added 16 points for the Warriors,
who completed their home season against Eastern Conference
competition with a best-ever 14-1 record.
The Warriors won despite shooting just 41.1 percent and getting only
eight points on 3-for-9 shooting from All-Star shooting guard Klay
Thompson, who played 18 minutes in his return from a three-game
absence.
Shooting guard Bradley Beal and backups Seraphin and guard Ramon
Sessions had 12 points apiece for the Wizards (40-31), who fell 2
1/2 games behind the Toronto Raptors (42-28) and the Chicago Bulls
(43-29) in the three-team battle for the third seed in the Eastern
Conference playoffs.
Wizards star point guard John Wall shot just 4-for-16 on an 11-point
night. Wall did record five assists, the fourth of which was his
700th of the season, making him the first Wizard to record
consecutive 700-assist seasons since Rod Strickland in 1996-97 and
'97-98.
"We have to regroup, bounce back and go home," Wittman said at the
end of a 1-3 Western swing. "We played a half of the way we wanted
to play. I have to find the guys that are committed to do it for 48
(minutes) now. That's my job."
NOTES: The Warriors became the first team in NBA history to record
two 6-0 homestands in the same season. ... The double-digit margin
of victory was the Warriors' 40th of the year. ... The Warriors went
3-0 in the absence of All-Star SG Klay Thompson, beating Atlanta,
New Orleans and Utah by an average of 16.7 points. ... The Warriors
play seven of their next eight on the road, all against teams
currently battling for playoff position. ... The Wizards have four
Eastern Conference clubs with losing records among their next five
opponents, all at home.
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