Viewed by many as likely to be a Play-In Tournament team again this season, the Golden State Warriors have opened their campaign in the most emphatic way possible across the first two games.
The Warriors followed up their 140-104 demolition of the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday with a 127-86 massacre of the Utah Jazz on Friday. After trailing 19-11 in the opening period, Golden State outscored the hosts by 49 points from there on as they recored their second consecutive blowout win.
The Warriors have set a league record in their first two games
The combined winning margin of 77 points is now the biggest over the first two games of a season in NBA history. While the Warriors did enter both games as favorites against teams expected to be at the bottom of the Western Conference, producing back-to-back wins in this fashion was unexpected and a result few thought possible.
Many Golden State fans would have simply been happy with winning both games, let alone winning them in such a dominant manner that allowed Steve Kerr to rest his key players in the entirety of both fourth-quarters.
The Warriors currently hold a 125.9 offensive rating and a 89.6 defensive rating, giving them an overall net rating of 36.3. The Cleveland Cavaliers sit second in net rating at 22.5, while only six teams are even about 10.
The combined winning margin isn't the only historic mark that's been set over the first two games. Golden State's bench unit was always projected to be one of the best in the league, yet they've been better than anyone could have expected. The Warriors' 150 bench points is the most across the first two games of a season since it started being tracked over fifty years ago, per NBA.com.
Offseason signing Buddy Hield has been the key architect in that, with the veteran sharpshooter following up his team-high 22 points against the Trail Blazers with another team-high 27 points in Utah on Friday.
Hield's 49 points are the most by a reserve over the first two games of a season in franchise history. So too are his 12 three-point makes, having done so in 16 attempts as the 31-year-old starts the season a scorching 75% from beyond the arc.
Even the biggest Warrior optimists couldn't have envisaged Hield's fit with the franchise being this good this early, nor could they have imagined the team obliterating their opponents in the way they have.