Melton reveals the Warriors' commitment to winning.
The Golden State Warriors needed overtime to get it done, but they found a way to beat the Houston Rockets 115-113 on Thursday night at Toyota Center.
That win said a lot about who this team is right now, especially without Stephen Curry in the lineup for a 12th straight game due to a knee injury.
After the game, De'Anthony Melton spoke about what keeps the Warriors going even when the roster is short-handed, and he pointed to something bigger than just one game.
Melton Sets the Tone
"It's a standard that that that is held here and if you don't want to kind of hold that standard, then I mean it's no place," Melton said. "But I think, I mean, other places are like that, too, with just how they structure their team. But for us, we try to structure it with dudes that play hard and dudes that know how to win and high IQ players."
That mindset showed up in a big way against Houston, a team that came into the game at 38-22 and sitting third in the Western Conference.
The Warriors entered as heavy underdogs without Curry, Jimmy Butler (out for the season with a torn ACL), and several other key rotation pieces, but they stuck around and fought until the final buzzer in overtime.
Melton finished with 23 points on the night, including a big step-back jumper assisted by Draymond Green that helped keep the Warriors in the game late.
He also came up with a crucial tip-in layup with 5.3 seconds left in overtime that pushed the lead to 115-112 and essentially sealed the win.
Melton's Role Keeps Growing
Melton signed with Golden State on a one-year deal before the season after coming back from a torn ACL, and he has been one of the more important players on the roster all year.
He is averaging 12.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game this season, but over his last six games he has been even better with 16.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per contest.
His two-way ability and willingness to guard multiple positions have made him exactly the type of player he was talking about in his postgame comments.
He plays hard, he knows how to win, and he brings the kind of basketball IQ that fits right in with what Golden State has always been about.
The Bigger Picture
Brandin Podziemski led the way with 26 points against the Rockets and has been another player stepping up during this stretch without Curry, averaging 12.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists on the season.
Al Horford chipped in 17 points as well, knocking down key three-pointers that kept the Warriors within striking distance throughout the game.
The Warriors now sit at 32-30 on the season, good enough for the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
It is far from where this franchise has been in years past, but games like Thursday's overtime win show that the culture Melton talked about is still alive in that locker room.
With Curry expected to be re-evaluated soon, the Warriors still have time to make a push if they can keep stringing together wins like this one.
The road ahead is not easy with a trip to Oklahoma City next on the schedule, but if this group keeps holding each other to that standard Melton described, they will have a shot in any game they play.