OAKLAND – Game 22, a 116-110 win over the Orlando Magic, was a study in contrasts insofar as the Warriors showed both the worst and best of themselves.
Which makes it perfect for reviewing both aspects.
Here are two positives and two negatives the Warriors can take away from the finale of their four-game homestand Monday night:
POSITIVES
The stars were shining
With Stephen Curry and Draymond Green -- two of the four pillars upon which the Warriors are built -- out of the lineup, it is imperative the other two pillars stand stronger than ever. Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson did exactly that.
[RELATED: Green likely to miss at least a couple more games]
Durant, with 49 points, posted his second-straight game with more than 40. He was hyper-aggressive early, hoisting five shots in the first five minutes. He missed four but didn’t back off. He ended up making 16-of-33 from the field.
The real payoff came in the second half, when he recorded two huge blocks and, with 22.2 seconds left, drained a 3-pointer than put the Magic to sleep.
[RELATED: Durant drowns out noise, back in his happy place]
Thompson had 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field through three quarters. He rushed a couple of shots and generally seemed slightly off.
In the fourth quarter, when this game was decided, he was money: 7-of-10 from the field, including 5-of-7 from deep. He finished with 29 points.
Combining for 67 percent of the scoring, Durant and Thompson did what stars are paid to do.
Looney’s late defense
Orlando center Nikola Vucevic is having a fabulous season and it showed in the first half, when he totaled 17 points, 11 rebounds and three assists. He was plus-11 in 16 minutes, heaping most of the abuse on starting center Damian Jones.
Jones didn’t play at all in the fourth quarter. And when Vucevic entered with 6:45 remaining, Warriors coach Steve Kerr replaced Jordan Bell with Kevon Looney.
Despite being three inches shorter and 40 pounds lighter, Looney used leverage and sound technique – and the occasional double-team – to hold Vucevic to seven points on 2-of-6 shooting.
This is not unusual and it’s why Looney is the team’s most trusted big man.
NEGATIVES
Defense takes a brief vacation
After going into the second quarter trailing for eight consecutive games, the Warriors flipped the script against Orlando, holding a one-point lead after one quarter.
Maybe it went to their heads. The second quarter defense was dreadful. The Magic’s second unit, led by the explosive Terrence Ross (13 points, 4-of-4 shooting in 10 minutes), provided the power behind a 39-21 advantage in the quarter.
The Warriors often were a step slow and sometimes simply failed to rotate. Orlando took advantage, shooting 60.9 percent (71.4 percent from deep) in the quarter.
Halftime adjustments were made, but the most important adjustment was improved effort.
Another tough game for Cook
Quinn Cook is in the starting lineup because he’s a scoring threat from deep. The first player to post a 50-40-90 season in the G-League is a pure shooter.
He didn’t have it in this game, scoring eight points on 3-of-10, including a 1-of-6 first half. A couple missed layups led to visible frustration.
The scoring fireworks of Durant and Thompson were enough to offset Cook’s subpar efficiency in this game, but the point guard remains in a bit of a slump, shooting 33.3 percent from the field (but 41.7 percent from deep) over the last four games.
