SAN FRANCISCO – Winning six straight games is hard enough. Extending their winning streak to seven games looked like a walk in the park for the Warriors on Saturday night, until it wasn’t.
The Warriors started extremely strong, only to see their 16-point lead fade away. Contenders must embrace the challenge and overcome adversity, and that’s what the Warriors did in a 126-119 overtime victory over the Orlando Magic at Chase Center.
Beating the Magic gave the Warriors their first seven-game winning streak without Jimmy Butler since January/February of their 2022 NBA championship season.
Steph Curry was incredible in the fourth quarter and overtime, as was rookie Yaxel Lendeborg.
The elder Curry scored a game-high 41 points on 13-of-19 shooting, going 5-of-10 from 3-point range and 10-of-10 from the free-throw line. Lendeborg added 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting and pulled down eight rebounds.
A revitalized Strength In Numbers bench continued to be huge for the Warriors, outscoring the Magic 42-31.
There will be a lot to clean up while watching film, but the Warriors will ultimately pull off a decisive victory.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ improvement to 7-3 this season.
Lean on Curry and Lendeborg
It is in winning time that superstars are born. There’s no one in the building who doubts Curry in the clutch. But every hero needs a co-star by their side. To Curry, he’s a rookie wearing a cape.
The fourth quarter was won on the backs of Curry, 38, and Lendeborg, 24, in his 10th career game.
In the first three quarters, Lendeborg scored seven points and was somewhat forgotten. Then, in the fourth quarter, Lendeborg used his size and skill to score a huge nine points on perfect 4-of-4 shooting. But it was another Steph Show allowing everyone to sit back and enjoy his 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Between the two, Curry and Lendeborg combined to score 23 points in the fourth quarter on 8-of-9 shooting. Curry was on the bench when overtime began, arriving at the 3:48 mark with the Warriors ahead by two points. He and Lendeborg scored 12 of the Warriors’ 16 points in overtime to earn the victory.
Regarding statistics
Winning the margins is a major talking point for Warriors coach Steve Kerr to succeed. His team needs to take care of the ball, focus on singles instead of home runs, and win the possession battle. The Warriors failed to execute on these key plays in the game against a short-handed Magic team that seemed to grab every loose ball.
Let’s start with the turnovers. As the first quarter drew to a close, the Warriors began to get the ball loose. And the theme continued in a bad way for the home team. By halftime, even though the Warriors had a 16-point lead, they had already given up 10 turnovers for 14 points.
As the Warriors’ lead evaporated in the third quarter, they continued to count turnovers and reached 14 for 18 points heading into the fourth. But the Warriors had just one turnover between the fourth quarter and overtime, giving the ball away a total of 19 times for 26 points.
Another major area of concern was on the offensive glass. The Magic continued to keep possessions alive and eventually caught up to the Warriors. While the Warriors only managed a modest three offensive rebounds, the Magic had a ridiculous 24, which helped lead to 33 second-chance points compared to the Warriors’ two.
Gui’s brutal return
Regardless, Gui Santos wants to help the Warriors win games. He was suffering from an injured left knee that was holding him back, and he eventually had to be told to sit down. Santos missed the previous two games, both of which the Warriors won, before returning Saturday night.
He was back in the starting lineup, but couldn’t give the Warriors much. At all.
Santos only played more than 11 minutes and didn’t make much of an impact. Playing less than usual, Santos had more turnovers (two) than shots (one). This is in a game where he has only one rebound and no assists.
Defensively, Santos didn’t have much flash either. It’s clear he’s less than 100 percent, and the Warriors will need a much better version of him soon. Santos finished minus-4 with three points and didn’t come off the bench in the fourth quarter or overtime.
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