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As most Bay Area sports fans mourned the end of the 49ers’ season, the Warriors quietly earned their third consecutive win, their 11th victory in their last 15 games, and continued their ascent ahead of the NBA’s Feb. 5 trade deadline.
Despite Jimmy Butler’s late scratch for “personal reasons,” eight Golden State players finished in double figures and Steve Kerr’s team made 20-plus three-pointers for the third consecutive game in a 136-116 win over the Hornets. All 10 Warriors who appeared against Charlotte knocked in a triple, led by Draymond Green, who went 4-of-6 from deep to punish the Hornets’ “gimmicky” defense.
After falling two games below .500 a month ago, Golden State (24-19) has started the latter half of its season with clarity in roles, trust in its rotation, and the ability to absorb last-minute changes without missing a beat.
“This is the most momentum we’ve had since we started out 4-1,” Kerr said.
The Warriors have moved on from their old “Strength in Numbers” motto, but their recent surge has coincided with critical contributions from some of the team’s most important bench players.
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Will Richard jumped into the starting lineup seconds before tipoff. Buddy Hield, who’d been left out of the loop in the past week, slid seamlessly back into the rotation to fill some of Butler’s void in the first quarter and finished with 14 points in his 18 minutes.
The most important factor in the rhythm and flow the Warriors’ second unit has displayed in recent weeks is the dimension a fully healthy De’Anothy Melton brings to the floor.
In the six weeks since his return from ACL surgery, he has become Golden State’s most reliable veteran bench player. His initial contributions were modest after his early December return to the court, but in the last month, Melton has emerged as an increasingly important part of the Warriors’ roadmap.
He poured in a team-high 24 points and his 13-point third quarter brought fans inside Chase Center to their feet. Melton’s season-high in points came on the heels of a 23-point effort in 18 minutes against Portland on Tuesday and a 5-of-9 performance from beyond the arc night against Milwaukee on Jan 7. In his last 10 games, Melton has averaged 13.8 points in 22.6 minutes while disrupting on the ball, getting downhill in stride, and creating good looks for teammates.
Melton, who has appeared in games with four teams in his eight-year career, has also been shooting 41.2% from deep during that stretch while slotting seamlessly into Golden State’s Steph Curry-centric offense.
“He’s exactly what we need,” Curry said after the win. “He’s just a gamer, he can put the ball on the floor, he can create, he’s a knock-down shooter, and then what he does defensively, being a disruptor on the ball and playing the passing lanes, just making winning plays. His aggressiveness to score has helped up, no matter who he’s out there with.”
Green agreed: “He’s bringing that on a nightly basis and it makes us a completely different team.”
Al Horford, too, has been solidifying his role in the second unit rotation in the past weeks. In his last 10 games, the 39-year-old big man, signed as a free agent this summer, has averaged 7.7 points and 5.2 boards in 17.3 minutes.
With a pair of trusted veterans in Melton and Horford, the Warriors’ second unit looks increasingly formidable, and it has the potential to continue improving.
The group has been aided by Brandin Podziemski, who has scored at least 14 points in each of the Warriors’ last four wins. The third-year guard has been aggressive, consistent in his attack, and is pushing the tempo.
Kerr’s starting lineup hasn’t quite hit its stride, but Golden State could add in a new wrinkle in the coming weeks. Fifth-year wing Jonathan Kuminga became trade-eligible on Thursday, hasn’t played in the last month, and could net the Warriors an immediate-impact contributor in return if the franchise can find a trade partner.
General manager Mike Dunleavy has less than three weeks to work out a deal involving Kuminga that would find the 23-year-old a new home and give the Warriors another player who could slot into their rotation and ease the burden on Curry, Butler, and Green.