East Coast Road Warriors

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Underdogs have been thriving as of late in all sports. Not only as underdog covers but money line victors. To do so as consistently as teams have done it takes a tough mentality to win on the road. While the weather has been at a peak of discomfort on the East coast, it has spurred a riveting ascent for the Golden State Warriors.

Golden State came onto the NBA scene a year ago via the Splash Brothers. Mark Jackson the former player turned NBA head coach figured to be in a growing period with a great group of young talent. Injuries to big men Andrew Bogut and David Lee at times hampered the core talent on a day to day basis. Yet the improvement of Harrison Barnes month to month and sharpshooting of Curry/Thompson kept things in gear for the Warriors.

Their playoff performances as a team put them on serious stock watch for the 2013-2014 season. Who has provided an extra dimension to the Warriors has been free agent signee Andre Iguodala. Mark Jackson has wanted to bring more toughness on the defensive end, and that has been provided with Iguodala and a an aggressive defensive mentality from everyone.

There comes a point in a season where a team knows that they’re capable of defeating anyone. Golden State has that mantra now and it has been from a torch session through the Eastern Conference.

Tonight they wrap up a seven game East coast road trip as they play against the Brooklyn Nets. And they’re coming in having won the previous six road games on top of their current win streak of ten wins. There is no sugar coating that the Eastern conference is depleted and in a serious transition phase. Still, teams on a heavy road trip such as the Warriors are, aren’t supposed to be able to win this many games in a row.

They’ve had some great finishes on the trip with an Andre Iguodala three pointer to defeat the Hawks at the buzzer, and a game against the Miami Heat in which they shot the lights out. Those are games that every fan pays attention to. What has drawn my attention is the defense they’ve displayed in stretches.

They’re not a team that is going to command a dominating defensive presence for four quarters. But they’re the type of team that can irritate teams on the offensive end by their ferocious hot shooting. Even in grade school or high school competition seeing the opponents shot reign in through the net time and time again has a psychological affect. Teams begin to rush their shot and not run their offense correctly.

Case in point the Washington Wizards were held to just fifteen third quarter points. They were held to just five points through the first ten minutes of the quarter. Guess how many points the Warriors ended up scoring in the third quarter? 34

Tonight the Warriors look to cruise to another victory on the road capping off their seven game East Coast road trip. You can count on it, and don’t be surprised to see their win streak surge past fifteen games.