Golden State Warriors: Time To Regroup
Dubs On The Decline?
In an historic season where Golden State is on pace to win the most regular season games in NBA history, it’s truly staggering that the Spurs — on pace for a 71-win season of their own — have continued to subtly apply pressure. The question might be not whether the Warriors can win 72 games anymore; it may have become whether they’ll need to.
The only problem is, if you take a look at the Warriors since the All-Star Break, their 7-2 record and the individual brilliance of Steph Curry have masked how human they’ve looked.
In the Dubs’ last nine games, Curry has shot 49-for-100 from three-point range (49 percent), but everyone else on Golden State’s roster has gone 55-for-195 (28.2 percent).
Kobe Bryant on Draymond Green: "He's the 1 that's going to have to create that conflict and create that tension within in the locker room."
— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) March 7, 2016
Draymond Green‘s touch from long range has plummeted to 23.2 percent in that span, which may have contributed to his halftime tirade in OKC as the result of weeks of simmering discomfort. Klay Thompson’s efficiency from deep has dropped to 30.9 percent, while Andre Iguodala, Leandro Barbosa and Brandon Rush have all shot less than 15 percent from downtown.
The Warriors’ point differential since All-Star Weekend has been a pedestrian +0.9, they’ve surrendered a staggering 106.9 points per 100 possessions and if it weren’t for late-game fireball displays from Curry, the Dubs probably would have lost in Atlanta, Miami and Oklahoma City over the last few weeks.
Curry has been doing the heavy lifting to disguise it, but with Festus Ezeli out and Iguodala banged up, we’re suddenly seeing the Warriors at their most vulnerable.
Next: The Spurs Factor