Golden State Warriors: 5 Takeaways From Opening Night Disaster

2. The Spurs Are Pretty Damn Good

Before we go off the deep end worrying about the Golden State Warriors, however, we should probably point something out: The San Antonio Spurs are still a really frickin’ good basketball team.

Many — myself included — predicted some slight regression for the Spurs this year as they downgraded from Tim Duncan to Pau Gasol on the defensive end. If Tuesday night was any indication, reports of the Spurs’ demise were greatly exaggerated (again).

The domination was thorough. Every time Golden State tried to put together a run and get their crowd back into it, Kawhi Leonard and the Spurs responded with a counter punch. LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds, drilling back-breaking, impossible-to-defend fadeaways to keep the lead out of reach.

The Spurs closed the first quarter with a three, a steal and another three to extend a six-point lead to 11 in a matter of eight seconds and stun a raucous crowd.

Simmons started the game 6-for-6 for 15 first half points off the bench, helping San Antonio build an 18-point advantage at the break. He even looked like a mini-LeBron James out there, stifling a possible Warriors run with a chase-down block on Curry…

…Before putting the final exclamation point on the night by prematurely ending JaVale McGee’s career:

If you’re looking for the biggest culprit of Golden State’s opening night disaster, however, look no further than the best player on the floor in a game featuring Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson: Kawhi Leonard.

Finishing the game with a career-high 35 points, five rebounds and five steals on 10-of-21 shooting, Leonard was as aggressive offensively as we’ve ever seen. He got to the foul line 15 times (making all 15), was unstoppable in the midrange and was an absolute terror on defense.

It’s easy to freak out about a 29-point loss in a game where Pau Gasol somehow managed to post a -13 plus/minus and Tony Parker clocked in at -12, but the truth is, the Dubs picked one hell of an opening night opponent to put all their new pieces to the test.

The Warriors definitely have things to work on, but let’s not forget that the team doing the spanking Tuesday night was probably one of the best three teams in the NBA.