Warriors defense suffocates Hawks in blowout win

On November 21, 2024By Littum

SAN FRANCISCO — When Steph Curry felt Onyeka Okongwu wrapped around his ankles, Steph Curry lifted his head and dropped a HERS shot off the glass.

Once he got up from the floor, right next to Okongwu, Curry high-fived a small kid sitting courtside in the corner. MVP chants followed as Curry finished the and-1.

That bucket started 17 unanswered points for the Warriors, a first-quarter barrage that set them up to kiss the rest of the way.

With a torturous defense and an aggressive Andrew Wiggins (27 points on 12-for-17 shooting), the Warriors (11-4) secured a breezy 120-97 victory over Atlanta. Curry chipped in with 23 as the Warriors held Trae Young to 12 points and the Hawks as a team to 33.3% shooting overall.

Lindy Waters III started his third straight game, replacing De’Anthony Melton — who is coming off season-ending ACL surgery — in the starting lineup. The Warriors not only like his fit in the starting context, but also how the bench flows afterward.

After Curry’s early and-1, the other Warriors got in on the action. Buddy Hield hit his first three shots, including two from deep. Jonathan Kuminga scored six points in his first five minutes. Brandin Podziemski, who has had a brutal start to the year, hit a step-back 3.

When the Warriors got hot, they held Atlanta scoreless for five minutes. Kevon Looney influenced shots at the rim and the Hawks turned it over several times. After a single Kuminga steal, he found Hield leaking out for an easy dunk.

The offense put Golden State up 41-22 after the first period.

That was all Golden State’s defense needed to hit the cruise control.

To cap off a dominant first half, the Warriors ripped off a 10-0 run, only to turn the Hawks around. Atlanta coughed it up four times in the final two minutes, including two from Trae Young. The Warriors caught Young in the pick-and-roll when he was near a sideline, and Draymond Green played the cat-and-mouse game in the paint every time he wound his way onto the court. A Kyle Anderson streak led to a breakaway.

Defense to offense, rinse and repeat.

At halftime, the Hawks had eight turnovers and were 6-for-14 from the line. It was like the Warriors gave them their worst qualities, but nothing else.

Atlanta shot 30% from the field and 6-for-23 (26.1%) from behind the arc in the first half. They were heading for a positive regression that would definitely work out. Just like the Rockets did. Just like Thunder did.

It did not come immediately. On one play, no Hawk checked Gary Payton II, giving him a wide open dunk after he got under the rim. After a made shot, the Hawks didn’t get back on defense, letting Payton slip past them for an alley-oop from Curry at halfcourt.

But eventually the Hawks woke up. After falling behind by 31, the Hawks finally tightened up their off-ball defense and threw various defensive looks at Golden State. The Warriors went scoreless in the final four minutes of the third quarter as they saw their lead go into the half.

The Hawks were defeated and deflated at one point, but the Warriors let them hang around.

Brandin Podziemski, who removed his protective face mask for his broken nose eight days prior, was hit in the face three minutes into the fourth quarter and went to the trainer’s room. At that point, the Warriors still held a 16-point lead.

And that was as close as Atlanta would get. Curry and Green returned and they – plus Wiggins – closed it out. Kuminga played only mop-up minutes in the fourth quarter, entering with two minutes remaining and a 26-point lead. It’s not like the Warriors needed him to shut out the Hawks, but finding a consistent role for Kuminga should be a priority for the organization.

However, the immediate priority is to win games. And the Warriors do plenty of that.