The Golden State Warriors extended their winning streak to nine games in a row thanks to a couple of clutch 3-pointers from Klay Thompson to seal a victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Thompson finished the night with 21 points. In his first 10 games back after a 2.5 season layoff, Thompson averaged 15.6 ppg. After shaking off the rust in January, it looks like Thompson found his smooth shot and got his groove back with 10 3-pointers in the last two games.
With Thompson inching closer and closer back to his old self, the Warriors were able to withstand not having Draymond Green in the lineup. Green has a disc issue in his back, which manifested into a calf injury. Even without Green on the court, the Warriors unleashed a nine-game winning streak.
The Warriors are tied with the Phoenix Suns at +450 odds to win the 2022 NBA Championship, but both teams trail the consensus favorite Brooklyn Nets at +400 odds. The Suns have the best record in the NBA at 43-10, but the Warriors are only 2.5 games out of first place.
The Nets (29-24) went into a tailspin after Kevin Durant suffered a knee injury and they slipped to the #7 seed, but fans and bettors have faith that the Nets will pull it together during the postseason, which is why they still sit at the top of the NBA futures board.
Warriors: 9 in a row
The Thunder held an early lead in the first quarter after the Warriors looked sluggish out of the gate. All-Star Andrew Wiggins went off in the second quarter and the Warriors regained the lead with a 10-point edge at halftime. Wiggins scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half.
The Thunder clawed back late in the game, cutting a double-digit deficit in half. However, Thompson slammed the door on their comeback with a pair of 3-point daggers.
“It’s great to see Klay hit those back-to-back 3s to kind of seal the win,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. “Just fun to have him back, and he looks great out there. He’s moving great. It’s fun to be able to play him.”
“He’s so good at shooting the ball, my hand doesn’t really do anything,” said Darius Bazley from the Thunder, who had the tough task guarding Thompson. “You just got to bank on him missing. There’s some players that are just so good that they don’t even see you.”
Steph Curry missed a triple-double with 18 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds. He quietly put his January shooting slump behind him, shooting 50% from the floor against the Thunder, including 40% from 3-point range and a perfect 100% from the free-throw line.
On Deck: Jazz, Knicks, Lakers, Clippers
Let’s be honest here, the Warriors padded their record and ripped off a winning streak by dominating a bunch of bottom feeders in the Western Conference. They feasted off the last-place Houston Rockets twice and beat up on the Oklahoma City Thunder, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, and the Brooklyn Nets, who are in the middle of an eight-game losing streak.
The Warriors head to Salt Lake City on Wednesday to play the Utah Jazz, who recently halted a skid and won three games in a row. It’s a big game with a nine-game winning streak on the line between the Warriors (41-13) in the #2 seed and the Jazz (33-21) in the #4 seed.
Later in the week, the Warriors return home to San Francisco to host the sad-sack New York Knicks (24-30) and struggling Los Angeles Lakers (26-28). The Knicks dropped three in a row need a lot of help to get into the play-in tournament in the Eastern Conference, while the Lakers look like they’re destined for the play-in tournament in the Western Conference.
On Valentine’s Day, the Warriors head down to Hollywood for a game against the LA Clippers (27-28).
The Warriors are 29-21-4 ATS this season, including 4-2-1 ATS in their last seven games.