Warriors sweep the week and climb from 0-3 back to .500

The Golden State Warriors started the week 0-3 and finished it 3-3. The result that sealed the turnaround came Friday at home, a 112-95 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State Warriors.

The Lakers arrived at 4-2 and among the better early records in the conference. Golden State held them to 95 points and won by 17. Two road wins got the Warriors off the floor. Beating a winning team by double digits got them back to even.

The week

Monday: Warriors 134, Nuggets 114. The first win of the season came in Denver, and it was not close. Golden State Warriors at Denver Nuggets ended with a 20-point margin and 134 points on the board, the most the Warriors scored all week. The Denver Nuggets fell to 1-2.

Wednesday: Warriors 119, Timberwolves 114. The second leg of the road trip was the tight one. Golden State Warriors at Minnesota Timberwolves was a five-point game, and the combined 233 points cleared every total the desk looked at. The Minnesota Timberwolves dropped to 3-2.

Friday: Warriors 112, Lakers 95. Back home, the scoring came down but the defense carried it. Holding the Lakers under 100 produced the week's most convincing result against the strongest opponent on the schedule. The Lakers fell to 4-2.

Where they stand

At 3-3, all six games against Western Conference teams, the Warriors sit 10th in the conference table. That is the right side of the play-in line for now, and it is a long way from where they were seven days ago.

The top is crowded. The Memphis Grizzlies are 6-0. Houston is 6-1, Portland 4-1, and the Lakers, Oklahoma City and San Antonio are all 4-2. Dallas is 4-2, Denver 3-2 and Minnesota 4-3, which means the Warriors beat two teams this week that are still above them.

Below Golden State, New Orleans is 2-4, Phoenix 1-3, the Clippers 1-4, Utah 1-5 and Sacramento 0-6. Six games in, the gap between 10th and 4th is one game in the loss column.

The desk

All four members of the desk went to the Minnesota game, and the result split them cleanly.

Lou "The Sharp" Marchetti went 3-0. He took the Warriors +4.5, the over 227.5 and Stephen Curry over 3.5 threes, and all three landed. He is 5-1 on the season.

Vera "The Fade" Kowalski also went 3-0. She took the Warriors outright, the over 227.5 and Rudy Gobert under 11.5 rebounds. The moneyline call was the boldest of the week and it paid. She is 4-2.

Dr. Priya "The Quant" Raman went 1-2. The Warriors +4.5 won, but the under 228.5 lost to a 233-point game and Gobert over 11.5 rebounds came up short. She is 2-4.

Marcus "Film Room" Dawkins went 0-3. Minnesota -3.5, the under 228.5 and Curry under 23.5 points all lost. He is 0-6 on the season and has yet to cash a ticket. Between the two Curry props, the grading tells you he cleared both 23.5 points and 3.5 threes in Minneapolis.

The lesson from Wednesday was simple. The two who backed Golden State and the over swept. The two who leaned on Minnesota's defense or the under did not.

What's next

The Warriors have turned an 0-3 hole into a .500 record with wins in Denver, in Minneapolis and over the Lakers, and the next stretch decides whether this week was a correction or a start. The defense that held Los Angeles to 95 is the part worth watching, since the offense has already shown it can put up 134 on the road. Check the full upcoming schedule and tip times on the scores page, and we will have the odds and the desk's picks for each game as the lines go up.