Sleep is overrated. The Warriors, on the other hand, are pretty good.
How else to explain Golden State’s 120-105 road win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night, which came after an escape from New York that included a six-hour wait on an airport tarmac?
The win was the eighth in a row on the road for the Warriors – tied with Boston for the longest such streak in the NBA this season — and 13th in the last 16 games.
Being sharp and crisp at the outset even after two wins was out of the question following a nightmarish six-hour wait to depart New York and get to Toronto for the Warriors’ second game in two nights and third on the road trip.
It didn’t stop the Warriors (32-27) from picking up steam and pulling away in the second half, with Stephen Curry scoring 25 points and Jonathan Kuminga adding 24.
Klay Thompson scored 14 points as a starter, all in the second half, with Moses Moody scoring 17 and Chris Paul 13.
“We had an eventful night. Couldn’t get out of New York,” Paul told NBC Sports Bay Area. “But this team, there’s a lot of resilient guys. We could have found every excuse in the book to come out and lay down tonight. But we’ve got a lot of guys who aren’t built like that.”
R.J. Barrett had 23 points to lead Toronto (22-38), which has lost two in a row since snapping a season-high three-game win streak.
A Warriors team source confirmed the club sat on the runway in Newark, New Jersey for several hours after the conclusion of their 110-99 win Thursday over the Knicks, awaiting a new chartered flight because their original one had mechanical issues.
By the time the Warriors got their new plane and departed, it was after 5 a.m. They landed in Toronto approximately an hour later and didn’t get into their team hotel until 7:15 a.m.
“Fantastic win. I mean, last night was brutal,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “The worst travel circumstances I’ve ever been involved in in the NBA.
“It was pretty rough, but really I’m proud of the group for the way they competed. After that slow start, we really locked in and did a good job.”
Forward Draymond Green, who finished with six points, five assists and 13 rebounds, expected nothing less.
“A few hours of sleep, but we got two wins in the last 24 hours and that’s always great,: Green said. “We’re a resilient team. We’ve been through the storm already this year. To play the game we played says a lot about the group. I had no doubt we would play the game we played.”
Even with NBA charters having ample room for players to stretch out and get some shut-eye, it was far from an ideal scenario regarding rest and recovery.
It didn’t help that one of their main suppliers of energy, rookie guard Brandin Podziemski, missed the game after injuring his right knee diving for a loose ball against the Knicks.
That meant Thompson, who had responded well in the previous six games as a reserve, was back in the starting lineup. Thompson was scoreless in 15 minutes in the first half, missing all three of his shots.
Kerr wasn’t sure when Podziemski would return.
“I think he had an MRI today and I have not heard any results of the MRI yet,” Kerr said. “We don’t think it’s serious and it probably will be day to day.”
Thompson had achieved a comfort level in six games as a reserve, averaging 19.2 points in 27.1 minutes per game, shooting 46.1 percent from the floor and 44.1 percent on 3-point attempts with 3.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists.
The Warriors outscored Toronto 32-19 in the third quarter to take a 93-83 lead into the fourth quarter. Thompson, who was scoreless at the half, had eight points and seven rebounds in the quarter. The Raptors were 0-for-9 on 3-point attempts in the quarter.
With Kuminga getting 13 points in the second quarter after going scoreless in the first, the Warriors went into halftime trailing 64-61. Moody led all scorers with 15 points and Curry had 14.
Barrett had 37 points when the Raptors blew out the Warriors 133-118 at Chase Center on Jan. 7 and had 14 for Toronto.
The Raptors lost leading scorer Scottie Barnes in the first half after hitting his hand on the rim after scoring 10 points.
Predictably, the Raptors got off to a quick start with a 14-7 lead, prompting two Kerr time-outs where the head coach looked visibly distressed with the energy level.
“I hate yelling at our guys. The circumstances I think dictated the first six minutes,” Kerr said. “I think our guys were asleep still – which is understandable. We’ve got to wake up. We can only win this game if we put that stuff behind us and focus.”
Yet at the end of the quarter, the Warriors were within 31-28 despite hitting just 10 of their first 28 shots (35.7 percent) and turning the ball over five times. Curry had nine in the quarter, hitting three of four 3-point attempts. Moody, making his third straight start with Wiggins out, scored the Warriors’ first seven points.
Moody said he slept on the first plane while waiting for the second and was one of the few Warriors who got off to a good start.
“The circumstances were what they were, but you’ve got to you’ve got to pay attention to yourself and how you actually feel and how should you feel because of the situation,” Moody said.
The Warriors conclude the road trip Sunday with a matinee against Boston, which has the NBA’s best record at 47-12 and has won its last 10 games.