Golden State Warriors Started 0-3 And Made NBA History, Now Houston Rockets Stands Between Them And Win No. 9

The Warriors lost their first three games. Since then, they have not lost once. On Monday night, Golden State crushed the Pelicans 138-87 for its eighth straight win, and no team in NBA history has ever started 0-3 and then won eight in a row. It also finished a 6-0 homestand. Now the Warriors go on the road to face the Rockets on Wednesday night, with a chance to make it nine. Here is how a team that looked lost in the first week got here.

How Golden State Went From 0-3 To Eight Straight

It did not look like this at the start. The Warriors lost to the Lakers, the Grizzlies and the Suns, giving up big scoring nights each time. New defensive coach Frank Vogel was supposed to fix that, but the pick-and-roll breakdowns kept coming. Before the streak began, Draymond Green said, “And we haven't created that identity yet.”

Monday showed how far they have come. New Orleans was on the second night of a road back-to-back and played without Zion Williamson, and Golden State took over right away. It led 35-20 after one quarter and by 40 in the third. The 51-point win was the fourth biggest in team history.

Three players did most of the damage. Yaxel Lendeborg scored 23 points on 8-for-10 shooting and hit all four of his threes. Brandin Podziemski had 25, with five threes. Stephen Curry also had 25, 16 of them in the third quarter, on just 10 shots. Together they scored 73.

The defense was just as nasty. The Pelicans shot 36.3 percent, and Charles Bassey sent back a dunk try by Derik Queen. It was only the second time New Orleans has lost by 50 or more, and the first came in 2009, when the team was still the Hornets.

Win No. 9 Comes In Houston

Wednesday's game is at 9:30 p.m. Eastern, which is 8 a.m. on Thursday in India. Both teams are 8-3, with the Warriors fourth in the West and the Rockets sixth.

The Warriors are thin, though. Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody are out with knee injuries, Kristaps Porzingis is out with an illness and Will Richard has a thumb injury. Gary Payton II is day to day with knee inflammation. Brandon Williams also hurt his hamstring on Monday and left in the first quarter. Houston will be without Clint Capela and Steven Adams.

History gives fans a reason to dream. The last time Golden State won eight in a row in a season was 2021-22, the year it won the title. That team had also missed the playoffs the year before after losing in the play-in tournament, just like this one, and Lendeborg and Podziemski could play the part Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole did then.

Green said two weeks ago the team had no identity yet, and Wednesday will show how much it has found.