Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry and the art of the pump fake

Seventeen wins in a row?

In an global conference call last week, whose transcript and recording were shared to members of the local sports media, Stephen Curry said setting tangible goals has helped the Warriors become the team that they are right now. But the Warriors, who could be without injured starting forward Harrison Barnes for an extended period, are about to embark on one of their toughest stretches of the season: a seven-game, 15-day road trip. At 12-3, they’re completely overlooked due to the hot story that is the Golden State Warriors. Charles Jenkins was the pick at 44th overall, but he was traded in February 2013 after making minimal impact for the Warriors during his time there. A bad game for them, in a few respects.

“That’s why they win championships”.

The 3-point record could well have fallen had Curry not sat out the fourth quarter. As in, the game ceased being competitive after three stanzas. An unholy torrent of 3-point shooting had snuffed them. Burks who also had five rebounds and four assists scored nine points in the decisive fourth quarter for Utah who improved to 8-7. What resulted was an aesthetically pleasing, fast-forwarded look at basketball. Phoenix failed to bait Ezeli into defending shooting big man Mirza Teletovic, and Golden State instead matched their center up with Tucker, who missed open jumpers and couldn’t finish at the cup despite his speed advantage on Ezeli. Both outcomes could simultaneously happen Friday night, but if not, both teams will continue to have questions of how high their ceiling could go (for Golden State) and how low they can sink (for Philadelphia).

While there is certainly a time and place for that approach, sometimes it’s just as instructive to simply list numerous numbers and statistics in order to highlight just how dominant this team has been. Interim coachLuke Walton said, “We turned the ball over too much, we still have to get better at that”. Green had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in his third career triple-double, two this season. “You can’t let fool’s gold fool you”. “They shoot 3s like layups”. “I do the best thing: sitting up here watching them”. Curry was brilliant, which would seem redundant, possibly even boring, if not for his propensity to unveil a new trick every game.

Many gifted journalists will pen pieces using stirring language and descriptive adjectives to try to capture, in written word, just how astonishing the Warriors are to watch. First, with a behind-the-back dribble that left Price grasping.

He stops on a dime and pump fakes for fun. And finally, the punctuating swish.

Curry wasn’t the only player in the Golden State uniform to enjoy a successful night of play though, as Draymond Green and Leandro Barbosa also notched big games. Barnes jumped to contest a turnaround jumper by Morris when his foot landed on Morris’ foot. The team says it’s a sprain and that X-rays are negative.

Kemba Walker’s most hard task of the season so far will come Wednesday night when the Hornets welcome Stephen Curry and the reigning NBA Champion Golden State Warriors to Charlotte… That could end the streak, as could the basic law of averages.