Like the rest of the NBA knows, the perfect solution to snapping a losing streak is playing the Washington Wizards. 

The Warriors ended their season-high five-game losing streak by extending the Wizards’ losing streak to 12 straight in a 125-117 win on Monday night at Capital One Arena. 

In his fifth game as a Warrior, Kristaps Porziņģis scored 30 points off the bench. He went 8 of 13 from the field and drew seven fouls. The more the Warriors are seeing from Porziņģis, the better he has looked in his second straight game scoring at least 20 points. 

Behind Porziņģis was De’Anthony Melton, who scored 27 points in a game where he took two 3-pointers and missed both. Gui Santos efficiently scored 18 points as a game-high plus-20, and Gary Payton II again was a spark off the bench with 15 points, six rebounds and two steals.

Here are three takeaways from a Warriors win that improved their record to 33-35.

Look At KP Go

Staring at a box score is a pointless exercise when evaluating Porziņģis. It’s all about the eye test. How is he moving? What’s his stamina? Does he fit the Warriors? 

Those first two questions are even more important than the third. The Warriors always have known Porziņģis’ talent, size and skill set would be great in their system. How he was moving in his fifth game as a Warrior after sitting the previous night was a major positive.

Porziņģis in the first quarter played seven minutes and stuffed the stat sheet while moving with ease. In just seven minutes, he scored eight points and was a plus-10 with two rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and a steal. By halftime, Porziņģis was the Warriors’ leading scorer with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting in 13 minutes.

The second half was equally impressive for Porziņģis in the box score, and in the way he was moving. Porziņģis scored 15 of his 30 points in the second half. He played nearly 26 minutes and attempted half of the Warriors’ 28 free throws, going 13 of 14 at the line.

His 26 minutes played were Porziņģis’ most since Nov. 22 when he scored 30 points against the New Orleans Pelicans as a member of the Atlanta Hawks.

Follow Melton, GP2’s Lead 

Settling for 3-pointers, even without the game’s greatest shooter, has been a problem for the Warriors. Melton and Payton were the perfect examples of the solution.

“Yeah, they got no rim protectors, so as long as we can keep diving and getting buckets at the rim – if it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” Payton said during his halftime interview.

Each had 13 points in the first half, going a combined 12 of 16 from the field. The Warriors as a team were a lowly 5 of 17 behind the 3-point line (29.4 percent), but not because of Melton and Payton. Melton took one three and missed, and Payton stayed completely away from the 3-point line one night after making three treys. 

Look at the shot chart of De’Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II in the first half

Melton: 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting
Payton: 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting

This. Is. The. Way. pic.twitter.com/5Tgdwp8Dch

— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) March 17, 2026

That should have been how the Warriors as a team were playing. They outscored the Wizards 36-24 in the paint through the first two quarters. Melton then scored another 10 points in the third quarter as he continued to find his way to the paint, and even threw down a crazy poster dunk. 

How Melton and Payton played is what the Warriors did best. They scored a season-high 68 points in the paint on a night where the Warriors went 9 of 32 from deep (28.1 percent). Take note.

Gui Gets It Done Again 

During the Warriors’ five-game losing streak, the finger couldn’t be pointed at the best story of the season. Plenty of blame could be had but not at Santos, who averaged 18.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game. That same kind of production followed Santos in getting Golden State back in the win column.

The Wizards cut their deficit to just seven points with nine minutes remaining, so Kerr called Santos’ number, who was a plus-23, to get off the bench and into the game to stop the bleeding. 

Santos wound up playing nine minutes and 20 seconds in the fourth quarter, and the Warriors needed him the whole way down the stretch. The losing streak was full of heartbreak. Not this time, though. 

Here’s how valuable Santos was: Melton had the second-highest plus/minus on the team at plus-10. Whenever Santos was on the court, the Warriors simply put were a much better team.

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