Down two starters, Warriors grind out a huge win over Magic

The Florida sweep!

Things can change quickly in a few days. When the Golden State Warriors headed to Florida for an absolutely brutal back-to-back, they were free-falling, while the Houston Rockets were hot on their trail. The Dubs needed to salvage at least one win, but even that seemed like a very tall task.

Instead, they won both games. After beating up on a depleted Miami Heat squad in a 113-92 victory on Tuesday, the Dubs took on a full-strength Orlando Magic team on Wednesday, and walked away with a 101-93 victory.

It was one of their most important victories of the year, and one of their most impressive.

The Warriors were behind the eight-ball when the game started, with Jonathan Kuminga ruled out due to a minor injury. He’s critical in the matchup, so it was a tough blow; but Trayce Jackson-Davis returned from an injury absence of his own, and slotted into the starting five.

And then, just a few minutes into the game, the Warriors lost a second critical member of their starting lineup, when Draymond Green was ejected. It wasn’t a dirty play this time, but rather Green unable to stop arguing with the refs, even when given a fairly large leash. And so he was given two techs and sent packing.

Suddenly the Warriors not only were on the road, on the back end of a back-to-back, and playing a very good and energized team, but they were down their two starting bigs.

Yet Green’s absence seemed to invigorate the Dubs, especially on defense. After the free throws that the Magic were awarded for Green’s technicals were made, the Warriors trailed 8-6. And then they went on a 21-2 run, fueled by phenomenal defense and some strong play off the bench from Brandin Podziemski.

Despite Green and Kuminga’s absence, and despite zero points from Steph Curry, the Dubs led 27-11 after the first quarter.

But no lead is safe in the NBA. If you blinked to start the second quarter you missed a quartet of Magic threes, and suddenly it was a six-point game, with Steve Kerr calling an early time out. But again the defense locked in, and Gary Payton II seemed to do everything that you can possibly do on a basketball court, as the Dubs pushed the lead back to 14 points. Orlando closed with a few strong plays, but the Warriors still led 45-37 at halftime, despite just six points from Curry and a collective 2-for-16 performance from deep.

The Warriors started the third quarter strong, but then things turned against them. Holding a 13-point lead, Curry was fouled and sent to the line; but the Magic challenged the call and won. A chance to go up 15 was replaced by an 11-2 Orlando run. The Warrior stabilized and the teams went back and forth, but the momentum was shifting. The Warriors led 72-66 after three quarters, but you weren’t comfortable at all.

And then Andrew Wiggins happened.

Wiggins made a three on the first possession of the game. The Magic countered with a three of their own, then Wiggins added another. The Magic rallied and cut the lead to four, then Wiggins scored again. In all he totaled 13 points in the frame, each bucket bigger than the one before.

But the Magic were fighting like hell, even though the Warriors were playing good defense. A 7-0 Orlando run made it a one-point game with about two-and-a-half minutes left. Orlando had the ball with a chance for their first lead since 2-0, but the Warriors defense was fully locked in. They forced a 24-second violation, then found Payton for an easy two on the other end. They had another stop, then Curry weaved his way in for a layup to go up five with 1:09 remaining.

With the game ripe for the picking, the Warriors got one more stop and then Curry — struggling with his three all night — made a vintage step-back three, and hit the Orlando crowd with his patented “night night” celebration.

Night night, indeed. And one helluva trip to Florida.

Wiggins finished with a team-high 23 points in a sensational performance that was very much noticed by his teammates and coaches.

Curry added 17 points with 10 assists and Klay Thompson 15 points. Payton, Podziemski, and Moses Moody were absolutely brilliant off the bench, and the Warriors outrebounded the Magic 52-39.

The Dubs now get a day off, before heading to Curry’s hometown to visit the Charlotte Hornets on Friday at 4:00 p.m. PT.