Dub Hub: Warriors finish a ‘fantastic’ road trip with four straight wins

Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Monday, April 1st.

Warriors News:

Steve Kerr thrilled to go 4-1 during a ‘fantastic’ five-game road trip

Draymond Green authors ‘defensive masterpiece’ vs. Spurs | ESPN

The Warriors boarded their jet home with a two-game lead, plus the tiebreaker, for the last play-in tournament spot in the Western Conference after the Houston Rockets finally had their 11-game win streak snapped Sunday. Golden State is within one game of the Los Angeles Lakers for the No. 9 spot.

“That was a defensive masterpiece,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Green. “The offensive board at the end with the Klay 3 — probably play of the game. You watch that game, Draymond, he’s a genius defensively.”

Draymond hilariously wishes future Warriors luck facing Wembanyama | NBC Sports Bay Area

Speaking to the media during a postgame press conference, Green explained how difficult it is to match up with someone like Wembanyama due to his size and athleticism.

The Warriors forward described one of the game’s final plays, where he attempted to box out the Spurs big man for a rebound, with Green expressing his joy that he won’t have to play against Wembanyama for much longer.

“I thought I had a great box-out and he still didn’t let me get the rebound,” Green said. “He’s a very special talent. I was just telling Trayce [Jackson-Davis] and those guys that I’m happy I got the opportunity to play against him now because they’ll have to deal with him a lot later and I won’t be in the league anymore, so that’s good for me.”

Aldridge: The Warriors, behind the eight ball, have road wins in their corner pocket | The Athletic

The Warriors will have to win a lot on the road in the postseason — if they make it. Even if they get into the Play-In Tournament, they’ll have to win at least once away from home just to advance. And they won’t have home-court advantage in any subsequent series.

“Being comfortable in hostile environments, being comfortable in allowing your defense to travel and being able to rely on that, whatever the case is, it’s the polar opposite of last year,” Curry said. “I was joking that we might need to stay in hotels in San Francisco the night before home games and act like it’s a road game, take the bus in.”

Moses Moody with wise words following Sunday’s victory

NBA News:

Mavericks keep rolling, snap Rockets’ 11-game winning streak | ESPN

Doncic had a highlight-reel shot, making an underhand lob from inside the 3-point line as time was expiring on the shot clock early in the third quarter.

“To see him do that, I feel a lot of people got excited, but I think at the same time, that’s Luka,” Kidd said. “He’s always able to make tough shots. He’s Picasso. Give him the paintbrush, he’s going to do something special. That shot was pretty special.”

Lakers’ LeBron James on his NBA future after win over Nets: ‘I don’t have much time left’ | The Athletic

After scoring 40 points and tying his career high with nine 3-pointers in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 116-104 win over the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on Sunday, James was asked how long he plans to continue playing in the NBA.

“Not very long,” James said. “Not very long. I’m on the other side, obviously, of the hill. I’m not gonna play another 21 years, that’s for damn sure. But not very long. I don’t know when that door will close as far as when I’ll retire. But I don’t have much time left.”

76ers’ Joel Embiid ‘nearing comeback’ from a left meniscus injury suffered back in January

In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:

How Draymond Green set an aggressive tone against Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs

Already a team that goes to the rim at the lowest rate in the league (28.1% of their shot attempts have come from within four feet of the rim, 4.8 percentage points below league average, per Cleaning The Glass), that was made a much tougher prospect by Wembanyama’s 7’4” frame and penchant for planting hesitation, doubt, and outright fear within opponents who touch the paint.

It resulted in a first half where the Warriors attempted only 11 shots at the rim and made only five, with a rim attempt rate (23%) that was much lower than their season average. In contrast, they allowed the Spurs to go the rim 20 times (49% rim attempt rate, equivalent to the highest rim attempt rate in the league by a country mile), make 12 of those attempts, and score 28 points in the paint compared to their own 16.

Which was why Green’s first decision to start the second half set the tone for what would happen the rest of the game:

Warriors will need to protect home court to finish strong pre-playoffs

The Dubs now have to play with the cards they have left, which includes an upcoming battle with the 5th seeded Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night. And the Warriors will get a chance to head back home to their friendly confines in Chase Center for this important contest.

Actually, those confines haven’t been that friendly to Golden State this year, as the Dubs have limped to an 18-19 record playing in front of their home fans.

That’s a bizarre stat considering Golden State built a dynasty out of piling up wins at home, whether at Oracle Arena in Oakland or Chase Center in San Francisco. Even in last year’s disappointing season, they were still 33-8 at home, good enough for third best in the NBA.

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