Getty Klay Thompson #11 of the Golden State Warriors shoots the ball.
With just a week left in the 2023-24 NBA regular season, the Warriors are hitting their stride at the right time. On April 9, Golden State made NBA history during their critical 134-120 win over the Lakers.
The Warriors shot an astonishing 63.4 percent from the three-point range (26 of 41), which is the highest single-game percentage for a team attempting at least 40 threes, per ESPN Stats & Information.
26 THREES
Here’s every single one of ’em ☔️
To put things in perspective, a team attempting 40 threes isn’t unusual in the modern NBA — 3400 teams had previously reached the threshold. In fact, the league-leading Celtics are attempting 42.5 threes per game, making 38.9 percent of their deep shots.
Yet, no team had ever shot the ball from deep as efficiently as the Warriors on April 9.
Per @ESPNStatsInfo, @StatsWilliams the Warriors’ 63.4% 3-point shooting is the best 3-point field goal percentage in a game in NBA history.
Historic night from beyond the arc☔️
The game also saw the Warriors become the first team in NBA history with at least 25 made threes, 30-plus assists and 10-plus blocks in the same game.
The Golden State Warriors are the first team in NBA history with 25+ 3PM, 30+ AST, and 10+ BLK in a game.
Steve Kerr Isn’t Blown Away
After Stephen Curry (6 of 6 from three), Klay Thompson (5 of 10 from three), Draymond Green (5 of 7 from three) and Andrew Wiggins (3 of 5 from three) blew out the Lakers, Warriors coach Steve Kerr was surprisingly critical of his team for looking “a little bit disjointed” during the win.
During the post-game press conference, Kerr cautioned his team against getting complacent after their critical win with postseason implications.
“I didn’t feel like we played that well, but we made a million 3s,” Kerr said, via The Associated Press. “The ball was going in, but I didn’t think we were sharp. A lot of possessions where we weren’t just quite locked in and we were a little bit disjointed, but the ball kept going in. … To shoot 63% from 3, that’s crazy.”
“I didn’t feel like we played that well, but we made a million 3s.”
Steve Kerr believes the Warriors could have been even sharper in tonight’s win
Meanwhile, Lakers coach Darvin Ham admitted that his team lost the game in the early moments when the Warriors made 12 of their first 17 three-point attempts. The early barrage proved too much for Los Angeles to recover from.
“They were blazing hot — blazing, blazing hot,” Ham said, via The Associated Press. “But we don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve got to get our bootstraps together, get back on the drawing board, look at the film and try to make the best out of these last two games.”
Warriors Primed to Climb in Standings
As redeeming as the history-making night must have felt, the Warriors also improved their chances of an easier path to the 2023-24 NBA Playoffs.
The win over the Lakers gave the Warriors a realistic chance to inch out of the play-in scenario and possibly secure the seventh or eighth seed to finish the season.
Kerr’s team now owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Lakers, which could prove crucial if the Pacific Division rivals finish with identical records. Furthermore, the fact that the Kings, Suns and Lakers all suffered losses on April 9 helped the Warriors close the gap on the other play-in teams.
Here are the possible ‘final standings’ if the Warriors win their last 3 games 👀
Warriors 3-0 = 9th seed
Warriors 3-0 and SAC 1-2 = 8th seed
Warriors 3-0 and NOP 0-3 = 8th seed
Warriors 3-0 and PHX 0-3 = 8th seed
LOCK TF IN #DubNation
After the April 9 win, Warriors rookie Brandin Podziemski explained why claiming the eighth or the ninth seed is critical to his team’s chances of making a deep playoff run.
“Anybody in the league would rather have an 8 seed over a 9 seed,” Podziemski said, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “You get two cracks at it to win one game.”
The Warriors will close out their season against the Trail Blazers (April 11), Pelicans (April 12) and Jazz (April 14). If they can go 3-0, the Warriors are almost a lock to climb to the ninth seed. But with a little help from the Kings or Suns, they could climb to eighth. By climbing the eighth, the Warriors would need to win only one of their two play-in games to advance to the postseason.