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MINNEAPOLIS – A day after the Warriors defeated more than 30 points against the Boston Celtics in early March, Draymond Green said his team had to reach three goals in the latter part of the season: better execution, better defense and advantage on the NBA playoff field.
A few weeks later, following another embarrassing home defeat against the Phoenix Suns, the defending champions seemed not to be up to the three, ahead of a four-game road trip with three playoff teams .
After completing this trip with three victories, including Tuesday's 117-107 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Warriors seem to be finding their rhythm at the right time.
"Excellent trip," said coach Steve Kerr after the victory of the Warriors. "Doing 3-1 against the caliber of competition with the difficulty of back-to-back … really good trip."
Tuesday's victory summed up Green's vision from almost two weeks ago. By facing the Denver Nuggets at the top of the Western Conference, the Warriors had one of their best offensive performances.
They distributed 39 aids for only 13 turnovers and held the Timberwolves at 40% of the field. Stephen Curry, who struggled to find his shot in recent games, scored 22 of his 36 points, the highest score of the game, in the third quarter.
The victory over Minnesota also ended a four-game trip in which the Warriors ended the Rockets' nine-game winning streak and produced their best defense performance of the season against the Thunder. In addition, they added Andrew Bogut to the group while DeMarcus's cousins were injured in the ankle. During the trip, Golden State limited its opponents to 41.3% of the field and only 29.9% of the 3 point range.
Last season, the Warriors finished 7-10 in the last 17 games. They also sustained injuries to Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, and were trapped in the No. 2 seed of the West for much of the final stretch.
After the break from the stars this season, the Warriors have lost five of their first nine games. The home loss of the modest Suns prompted a different approach on the road.
"It's really a different state of mind," Kerr said. "Every game gets more important.Last year, I think in the last 20 games we knew we were going to be the top two so it's a little different this year and I think that will help us. "
In the first game of the trip, Golden State beat Houston behind 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists of the Cousins. Three nights later, the Warriors limited the Thunder's shot to 32.3 percent, including a 2-of-16 performance by star guard Russell Westbrook.
"The first two games have been important to us, especially after the Phoenix defeat," Durant said. "Going out and beating two teams on the road was probably the best part of the season for us and we needed that, we needed to feel good about ourselves, to fly, to train the next day. "
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Now, with 12 games to play in the season, the goals that Green has set after the defeat against Boston are still within reach.
After Tuesday's win, Golden State is a half-match in Denver for first place in the West, armed with a tiebreaker and a home match on April 2 . For a team that has won three championships over the past four years, it's a familiar territory.
"It's always good to set goals and achieve something, but for us, we know exactly where we want to be," Durant said. "We reached the point twice, and we had fun doing it.We were two headliners last year and we started on the road at the conference finals. West and won the first game – everyone is in a good rhythm, groove, I think it's much more important than trying to get a seed. "
"We know what we are capable of," Curry added. "It's just a question if we do it night after night."
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