OAKLAND, Calif. -- Just when the Golden State Warriors were waning, losing bodies and their edge, they suddenly looked complete in a sound 111-101 beating of the Charlotte Hornets on Monday.
Stephen Curry was “questionable,” before delivering 30 points on typically majestic shots. Klay Thompson was sharp, slinging 30 points of his own in with that robotically rapid shooting form. Draymond Green, whose All-Star bid is trending toward “lock,” claimed a third consecutive triple-double. Harrison Barnes returned from his injury and jumped into the game flow seamlessly. Marreese Speights returned from a lengthy slump to show a reminder of last year's heat check artistry.
In short, Monday gave us the Warriors as their old, familiar, joyously destructive selves.
"I didn't think Steph was going to play tonight, to be honest," interim coach Luke Walton said after the game. He wasn't alone.
It would have been reasonable to expect Curry to sit out Monday night, even if it was against his hometown team. He had re-injured his left shin against the Nuggets on Saturday, after sitting out a two-game Texas jaunt. Monday was the front end of a back-to-back.
So, it made sense that at morning shootaround, Curry was absent from his typical station, the corner court beside the training room. A constant of Warriors life is Steph after practice, shooting at his corner; it's up there with death, taxes and Green screaming. Instead, Jason Thompson used the Steph space to sharpen his game. An ominous sign, to be sure.
Curry went through his pregame arena routine and felt an absence of pain, though. He took shots off the logo, made his ceremonial shot from the hallway and sprinted to the locker room. Word was sent to Walton. The Warriors, as we know them, were in business. Curry was his usual, brilliant self, and thankfully “didn't get kicked,” as he said after the game.
Curry's absence would have been another disruption in a season full of them. Golden State's success shrouds the setbacks, and their sterling record obfuscates how they have looked less than themselves of late. The health situation certainly hasn't helped. Due to injuries and those fouling out, the Warriors were down to six suited players in Saturday's overtime victory.
Green has held the fort when it seemed everything was falling apart, playing any position, fitting himself into whatever shape is necessary for victory. The more complete roster did not compromise Green's production or detract from his versatility. After a made Hornets basket, the Warriors treated us to the odd sight of a power forward (Green) inbounding to the point guard (Curry) and then getting the ball back to run a play. The capper on his evening was a Draymond dunk down the stretch that resulted from Curry screening Green's man -- a total inversion of how it's supposed to work. Green's summary of the more complete Warriors' evening: “We got into the flow and got some of our rotations back.”
Monday had a better flow in large part because it came with Barnes' return. Since he rolled his ankle, Golden State had been good, going 15-2, but they hadn't been dominant. Before his injury, the Warriors' point differential was +15.8. In the games after Barnes' injury, it was +7.6.
With Barnes, the Warriors crushed opponents. Without the athletic swingman, Golden State crushed the occasional opponent, but gutted out plenty of other wins. The latter is an enviable situation for most teams but a departure from what the Warriors were.
Barnes allows Golden State flexibility, as he's a small-ball 4 who can play when Green takes to the bench. There's a cascading effect to this where Speights gets to then play center, a position that best optimizes his shooting touch. Speights went off, hitting 7-of-10 for 15 points, including a fading jumper that evoked Charlotte assistant Patrick Ewing's old days. Speights' recent run of quality play has the big man believing in the new year.
“It's 2016,” he said after the game. “I don't know what happened 2015.” Then Speights paused and remembered, “We won the championship in 2015."
Indeed they did. And on Monday, the defending champs looked like the defending champs again.