In their 120-114 win over the Nets on Sunday, the Warriors once again got the bulk of their offense from two sources. Stephen Curry accounted for 35 points and Kevin Durant had 34, their lowest combined total in three games.
But a couple other issues, good and bad, cropped up and are worth watching as the Warriors head to Chicago to face the Bulls on Monday night.
Here are two positives and two negatives in the wake of the win in Brooklyn:
POSITIVES
They treated the ball with care
The Warriors came into the evening averaging 17 turnovers per game, with a low of 16 and a high of 21. With the Nets willing to play at the same fast pace at the Warriors, the door was open for trouble.
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The Warriors must have imagined that possibility in advance. They treated the ball with respect, committing 12 turnovers, only nine of which were charged to the starters, who were credited with 23 assists.
The stars of the evening in this regard were Draymond Green, who shook off his giveaway bug to post 13 assists with one turnover, and Andre Iguodala, who played 20 minutes off the bench without committing a turnover.
The 28-12 assists/turnovers totals is the second-best of the season, after the Warrior posted a 35-14 jewel on the lowly Suns last Monday night in Oakland.
The Warriors strive for a 2-1 assist/turnover ratio. Anything better than 2-1 elicits cheers from the coaching staff.
The reserves were on point
The totals are indicative of efficiency and energy: 23 points (9-of-14 shooting from the field), 22 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals.
Who was responsible? That would be the six players, across four different positions, who came off the bench for the Warriors.
Though Brooklyn's backups played more cumulative minutes (99 to 81) and outscored the Warriors reserves, 42-23, the Nets were 14-of-38 (36.8 percent) from the field.
A deeper look inside the numbers finds Alfonzo McKinnie was plus-12, Kevon Looney plus-11, Jonas Jerebko plus-7, Jacob Evans III plus 5, Andre Iguodala plus-3 and Jordan Bell plus-2.
When Curry and Durant are pouring in points, the Warriors don't need a lot of offense from the bench. As long as the reserves are at least holding their own, that's sufficient. In this instance, they did better than that.
NEGATIVES
Jones still soft on the glass
Damian Jones has started all seven games at center and been reasonably solid by many measures. There is, however, one glaring problem that is easily correctable.
That's rebounding. The 7-footer grabbed exactly one rebound in 12 minutes against the Nets. This comes after he had none in 14 minutes against the Knicks on Friday.
That's 1 rebound in the last 26 minutes and, moreover, provides a glimpse into why Jones is averaging 2.7 rebounds per game.
There is no question Jones has a lot to think about. He'd never started an NBA game before this season. There are commands to bark out, switches to make, shots to block and, of course, lobs to jam.
But rebounding has to be part of a big man's job. Jones' lack of production on the glass has yet to cost the Warriors, but it will if he doesn't pick it up.
Late complacency nearly cost them
We've seen it often over the past couple seasons. The Warriors get a big lead, Kerr would like to rest his stars and he can't because the opponent keeps coming.
That relentlessness in in the DNA of the Nets. The Warriors know it and they still eased up enough to turn a rout into a close game.
The Warriors used a 19-5 run in the second quarter to take a 63-44 lead with 1:16 left in the half. They led by 15 (108-93) when Klay Thompson drained his only 3-pointer with 6:52 remaining.
Brooklyn needed less than five minutes cut the margin to two, going on a 15-2 run to make it 110-108 with 1:55 remaining.
The Warriors wrapped two stops around buckets by Durant and Curry to regain control before closing it out with four free throws inside the final 14 seconds.
It's a dangerous game to play, but they got away with it. Again.
