Two positives, two negatives from Warriors' back-to-back victories

OAKLAND – With back-to-back home wins following four consecutive defeats -- two of them absolute blowouts -- the Warriors may have rediscovered as much of “themselves” as possible without Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.

It’s not as simple as making shots they had missed or even healing from the internal strife that rocked them. The healing is ongoing, but they’re succeeding while coping.

Here are two positives and two negatives culled from wins over Portland and Sacramento on Friday and Saturday, respectively:  

NEGATIVES

Durant plays Santa

The Warriors committed 29 turnovers in the two games, which is neither great nor terrible. The most unsatisfying aspect of it is that the giveaways led to 33 points by the Blazers and Kings.

That generally means live-ball turnovers, with errant passes and lost dribbles launching fast breaks for opponents.

Kevin Durant was particularly vulnerable, committing 12 turnovers in the two games – including five in the first quarter against the Kings. That’s simply too many.

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Some of this can be blamed on increased ballhandling and playmaking responsibilities in the absences of Curry and Green. Durant’s usage rate has soared, and with that comes higher potential for turnovers.

Neither Durant nor the Warriors can be happy with 12 in two games.

Fire away, Andre

When evaluating Andre Iguodala’s game, shooting is the last place to go. It’s somewhere beneath intellect, court awareness, defensive versatility, passing ability and an innate knack for sensing what’s needed at a given time.

But when his shot is falling, he should he cut it loose. When Iguodala punishes defenses for ignoring him, the Warriors are immensely better on offense.

He shot 50 percent over the two games – but took only two shots in each. It’s one thing to move the ball to a more assertive shooter, quite another to let defenders get away with being lazy.

Iguodala is shooting 52.8 percent (19-of-36) over the last eight games. That’s only 4.5 shots per. Why not work it while it’s hot? By not passing up shots, he’s leaving potential benefits unexploited.  

POSITIVES

Stars are back in alignment

Unable to shoot their way out of wet paper bags during the four-game losing streak, Klay Thompson and Durant have regained their strokes and are cooking defenders.

Durant scored 76 points in the two victories on 55.3-percent shooting. His 3-ball isn’t sizzling (4-of-13), but everything else (22-of-34) is. That four-game stretch during which he shot 39.1 percent suddenly is ancient history.

Thompson has been nearly as good. He scored 62 points on 51.1-percent shooting in the two games combined, including 42.9 percent from beyond the arc. Gone, too, are the memories of his 38.8-percent shooting during the team’s losing streak.

Durant and Thompson have found ways to create more room, leading to more good looks at the rim. For the Warriors to have any chance of dumping their collective slump, Durant and Thompson had to heat up. They did.

They gave Adams a reason to smile

Assistant coach Ron Adams, the man most responsible for coordinating the team’s defense, spent a full week looking as if someone had stolen his pet. The Warriors weren’t of a mind to defend, and nothing he said seemed to matter.

Suddenly, his words seemed to sink in. For much of the weekend, his face conveyed a brighter outlook.

That can be attributed to the Warriors reengaging on defense. In four of eight quarters over the two wins, they held their opponents below 45 percent from the field. In three of those four quarters, the opponents were below 40 percent.

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The Warriors took over the game against Portland by holding the Blazers to 30-percent shooting in the second quarter. Holding Sacramento to 3-of-14 shooting over the final 7:44 was crucial to winning that game as well.

It’s those defining moments of defense that bring a smile to Adams’ face.