Stephen Curry tweaks his right ankle and limps away. Gary Payton II bleeds from a gash on his nose. Jimmy Butler misses one game and is ineffective in another. Brandin Podziemski tweaks his right knee in one game and grabs his back in 44 seconds into another and never returns.
And Jonathan Kuminga plays not one minute.
The Warriors overcame all of it during a nine-day road trip on the East Coast, winning four of five games, punctuated Thursday night by a comeback 121-119 win over the Nets in Brooklyn that solidified their hold on sixth place in the Western Conference standings.
Stephen Curry’s fireworks notwithstanding, Golden State (35-28) would not be making such a triumphant return home without the contributions of Jimmy Butler III and his bustling band of buccaneers. Aside from the loss to the 76ers in Philadelphia, which Butler missed with back spasms, they did their part, often flourished and proved they can be pivotal.
They were exactly that on this night. After Golden State’s lethargic start sent the Nets out to a 27-5 advantage that allowed them to take a 35-15 lead into the second quarter, the Warriors gathered themselves and unleashed Butler and his bunch.
“Just being honest with yourself that we were playing horrible,” Curry said on “Warriors Postgame Live.” “We’ve got to be accountable, each and every one of us. We weren’t playing hard, and we weren’t playing physical. I think this is the first time I’ve ever gotten an offensive foul to show a little bit of fire to get us going. Whatever it took to kind of shock the system a little bit.
“And that unit that finished the end of the first the beginning of the second got us back into it where we had a chance and then we kind of all took it from there.”
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Six minutes later, the Warriors were within nine and had seized the momentum in a quarter punctuated by Curry’s 38-footer inside the final second.
LOGO STEPH 🤯
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The Warriors outscored the Nets 40-25 in the second quarter, with Butler scoring 11 points and posting a plus-15 in eight minutes. Gui Santos scored only two points but grabbed three rebounds and was plus-10 in five minutes. Draymond Green was plus-11, with four assists, in 10 minutes. Buddy Hield was plus-9 in four minutes, Pat Spencer plus-9 in six minutes and Quinten Post plus-5 in seven.
“They were all very professional,” coach Steve Kerr told reporters at Barclays Center. “And tonight, to come back from 22 down right out of the gates, give them credit. They just were amazing.”
The delightful surprise for Golden State is the defense being played by the second unit behind Butler, with plenty of support from Green. Their defense coordinated with Curry’s 22-point third quarter to cool the Magic and flip the game to a win at Orlando. They were behind the fourth-quarter thunder that silenced the Hornets in Charlotte. They – Hield, Post and Santos in particular – provided the finishing kick to beat the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden.
And there they were again in Brooklyn. Post finished with 10 points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes. Gary Payton II, wearing a protective mask over his nose, with 16 points and a team-high nine rebounds in 21 minutes.
Butler has brought not only a rock-solid belief to the squad but a collective toughness that such an undersized team as the Warriors, no matter their talent, must have to prosper during a run to the NBA playoffs and into the postseason.
“Each game is a one-game playoff type vibe,” Curry said. “You just got to figure out a way to win. We are developing our identity and an understanding of how to win, but we can still play better. To have the resilience to come back from down 20 or whatever in the first six minutes, it shows a lot about the belief that we have. We just got to keep going.”
Curry’s right ankle, tweaked on Monday, seems fine; he scored game-high 28 points on Tuesday and a game-high 40 on Thursday. Payton seems fortified by his magic mask. Podziemski’s status is “day to day,” according to Kerr. Kuminga’s return finally has reached the imminent stage.
“Great trip, 4-1,” Kerr said. “And now we’ve got to go home and take care of business.”
Never underestimate the impressionable power of a five-game trip on the opposite coast, especially if it’s the East Coast, with a two-game sweep in New York. The Warriors have more believers now they did when they left the Bay Area on Feb. 26.
Things are coming together nicely for a team that was gargling mud a month ago.
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