Golden State Warriors: 5 Takeaways From Opening Night Disaster
4. Bench Depth Is An Issue
If there were one projected weakness for these Warriors heading into the season, it was their bench depth. Playing against a Spurs second unit that led all NBA benches in plus/minus last season, Golden State’s largest flaw was exposed.
The Dubs still have Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, sure. They have a trio of promising youngsters in Kevon Looney, Patrick McCaw and Damian Jones, with one of them (McCaw) getting significant burn in the season opener. They even have old man David West and the perennial If He Can Find A Career Resurgence It’s Here All-Star in JaVale McGee!
Unfortunately, none of that stopped the Warriors’ bench from getting absolutely SMOKED by San Antonio’s “Juice Unit.”
Ian Clark was the Warriors’ leading scorer off the bench with five points. Meanwhile, Jonathon Simmons outscored Golden State’s reserves combined by a 20-16 margin.
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Simmons posted a +33 in only 28 minutes, Patty Mills was a game-high +35 and the Spurs had five players with a double-digit plus/minus.
The Warriors had four players with a double-digit plus/minus…except theirs were all negative, not positive.
In the playoffs, depth won’t matter as much. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers found success against the Warriors during last year’s playoffs when they shortened their rotation down to seven or eight players, and the Dubs should be able to find that many capable bodies by the end of this regular season.
But depth is important to winning regular season games and, as a byproduct, home-court advantage from a top playoff seed. Golden State is going to need more from its bench than 16 points on 7-of-21 shooting if they want to get there.