The Golden State Warriors started 0-3. They have now won eight in a row. The last time they won eight straight in a single season was 2021-22, the year they won the championship, per Nick Friedell of The Athletic.
Warriors Rout Pelicans for No. 8
The streak reached eight on Monday with a 138-87 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, who were on the second night of a back-to-back and without Zion Williamson and Trey Murphy III. It was the Warriors’ easiest win of the season.
Golden State led 35-20 after one quarter and 72-43 at halftime. The win improved the Warriors to 8-3 and finished a perfect five-game homestand.
Warriors’ Young Core Leads the Way
Stephen Curry scored 25 points on 6-of-10 shooting in under 21 minutes. Brandin Podziemski tied for the game high with 25 points, and Yaxel Lendeborg added 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists on 8-of-10 shooting.
De’Anthony Melton scored 16, Charles Bassey had 12 and LJ Cryer had 10. Twelve of the 13 Warriors who played made at least one basket. Bassey also had the highlight of the night, blocking Derik Queen on a two-handed dunk attempt.
Golden State Streak Echoes 2021-22
The parallels are hard to ignore. The 2021-22 Warriors came off a season that ended in the play-in. Few outside the building trusted them to contend. Nobody was measuring that team for a banner. It rose anyway, on the backs of Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole, who stepped into the light when the franchise needed them.
This year’s version has its own scar. The Warriors lost the Western Conference eight-seed battle to the Phoenix Suns last season. Then they opened 0-3. The story looked written, but it was not. Now Lendeborg and Podziemski are playing the part Wiggins and Poole once did. The streak is starting to look less like a hot stretch and more like an identity.
Injuries Are Piling Up
The good news comes with a warning. Brandon Williams left Monday’s game after a couple of minutes with a left hamstring injury and will have an MRI on Tuesday. If he misses extended time, he would join Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody and Kristaps Porzingis on the list of Warriors out for a while.
Will Richard is out indefinitely with a torn UCL in his left thumb, and Gary Payton II sat Monday with knee inflammation, though that is not expected to be a long absence.
What’s Next for the Golden State Warriors
The schedule gets harder now. The Warriors begin their first prolonged road trip of the season on Wednesday against the Houston Rockets, with tip-off at 6:30 p.m. Pacific.
Warriors Do Something They Haven’t Done Since Championship Season