When the Golden State Warriors crushed the Portland Trail Blazers on opening night, winning 139-104 (with the score later upgraded to 140-104), it took a while for things to get going. The intriguing big starting five was a bit funky and the team needed time to find some rhythm.

The same thing happened in Golden State’s second game, a road game against the Utah Jazz on Friday night. The offense looked clunky in the opening minutes and the defense came a step too late as the Warriors quickly fell behind 10–2 in a stretch that seemed to feature more whistles than points. Utah played fast, aggressive and active, and the Warriors… well, the Warriors didn’t. With the team not even looking competitive on the glass, Steve Kerr called a timeout trailing 15-6.

And then the Dubs dominated.

They showed off their versatility, with Andrew Wiggins – the shooting guard in the starting lineup – moving all the way to small-ball power forward after the timeout, in a lineup alongside Steph Curry, Gary Payton II, Buddy Hield and Draymond. Vegetable. On the first possession after the timeout, Hield picked up where he left off on Wednesday, leaving behind a three. And just like that, the Warriors were off to the races.

A step back three from Curry with just under four minutes remaining allowed the Warriors to finally catch up to the Jazz, and they quickly took their first lead. Hield was electric with eight points, Kevon Looney helped restore the aggression in the paint with six points and the Dubs closed the quarter on a 26-9 run to take a 32-24 lead.

It was a tough start to the second quarter for both teams as it took almost two minutes for both teams to score. The game slowed down and became a bit sloppy and chaotic, though Golden State’s lead never felt challenged. And then it was Hield again who took the lead, with a 16-point quarter. The spark he provided seemed to inspire the rest of the team, as the Warriors suddenly played with energy, style, spirit and aggression. Thanks to 24 first-half points from Hield, they led 56-42 at halftime.

The starting line-up may have struggled to start the game, but that wasn’t the case when they got another chance in the third quarter. They positively exploded out of the locker room, going on a 13-3 run and forcing a Utah timeout. That mark would eventually stretch to 18-4, giving Golden State a 74-47 lead and marking the game as non-competitive with a quarter and a half remaining.

From then on, there was nothing to do but pile up the score, run out the clock and let the players rest. No Warriors played more than 25 minutes on Wednesday. On Friday, Curry was the only player to surpass that mark, playing 27 minutes. They ended the third quarter with a 94-70 lead, and their bench unit continued to destroy Utah in the fourth quarter… even as the Jazz kept a number of starters late in a losing game.

The final count? A 127-86 victory and a thoroughly dominant start to the 2024-2025 NBA season.

Hield continued his brilliant start with the Warriors, dropping 27 points on 10-for-14 shooting, including 7-for-9 from distance, and adding four rebounds and six assists without a turnover or error. He came off the bench to lead the Warriors in scoring in each of his two games with the Dubs, and now has 49 points in just 35 minutes.

Not only did he lead the Warriors, but he led a brilliant bench charge that saw Golden State’s reserves outscore Utah’s by a whopping 80-49. That was necessary, as the Dubs starters struggled to score: Trayce Jackson-Davis shot a perfect 6-for-6, but Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga combined to shoot just 12-for-39. However, Wiggins more than made up for this as he helped set the aggressive tone for the Warriors with 13 rebounds and played a very strong defensive game.

The Warriors are now 2-0, which comes after a 6-0 preseason. Yes, their two wins are against two of the weaker teams in the Western Conference, but they are also on a roll, with a combined score of 267-190. It’s hard to do much better than that.

But a bigger test awaits on Sunday when the Dubs host the LA Clippers at 5:30 PM PT. After these performances, I absolutely can’t wait to watch them again.