Warriors won via role players

Golden State stopped a four-game slide on Tuesday, April 7, by beating Sacramento 110-105, and the surprise was who carried the finish. De’Anthony Melton scored 21, Brandin Podziemski scored 20, and the go-ahead shot came from Podziemski with 1:52 left, not from Stephen Curry. (nba.com) (espn.com) That is the kind of win the Warriors have spent years trying to manufacture around Curry. Defenses still bend toward him the way traffic bends around a stalled car, and that split-second of panic is often enough to turn a guarded shot into an open one for somebody else. (espn.com) (nba.com) The closing sequence showed the formula in plain view. Curry tied the game at 104 with 2:38 remaining, then on the next key possession he moved the ball to Podziemski, who pump-faked, sidestepped, and drilled the go-ahead three from the top of the key. (espn.com) (nba.com) Melton’s scoring mattered because it kept Golden State alive before the final shot ever arrived. He hit four three-pointers, finished with a game-high 21 points, and answered Sacramento’s biggest fourth-quarter push with a tying three after the Kings grabbed their largest lead with 7:18 left. (nba.com) Podziemski’s 20 points were not empty support scoring. He made four threes, and his biggest one came only after Curry chased down his own missed corner three, resetting the possession and forcing Sacramento to defend one more rotation. (nba.com) Curry still shaped the game even without leading the team in points. In his second game back from a right knee injury after missing 27 games, he scored 17 points in 25 minutes, hit two four-point plays in the second quarter, and created the late pass that put Podziemski in position to win it. (espn.com) The fourth quarter makes the point even clearer. Four Warriors guards — Podziemski, Melton, Stephen Curry, and Seth Curry — scored 23 of Golden State’s 25 points in the period, which meant the game was decided almost entirely by spacing, shotmaking, and quick decisions on the perimeter. (nba.com) That is a familiar Warriors blueprint, but this version looked different because the stars did not do all the finishing. Stephen Curry came off the bench again, Seth Curry added nine points in 16 minutes, and the starting backcourt of Melton and Podziemski combined for 41 points. (nba.com) (espn.com) There was also just enough help inside to keep the floor balanced. Charles Bassey, recently signed to a 10-day contract, posted 14 points, 12 rebounds, and two blocks, which gave Golden State a vertical target at the rim while the guards stretched Sacramento across the arc. (nba.com) The standings context made the result feel bigger than one April win. ESPN’s recap said Golden State was all but locked into the Western Conference play-in picture, so snapping a four-game losing streak mattered less as a statement and more as proof that the team can still survive a close game when secondary scorers cash the chances Curry’s presence creates. (espn.com) (nba.com) That is the lesson from 110-105. The Warriors did not need a vintage 40-point Curry night; they needed the old geometry of their offense, where one defender leans too far toward Curry, one pass arrives on time, and a role player like Melton or Podziemski gets the shot that decides the game. (espn.com) (nba.com)