Golden State Warriors: 5 Takeaways From Opening Night Disaster
1. There Will Be An Adjustment Period, But It’s One Game
No surprise here, but opening night overreactions were running rampant through Twitter Tuesday night, so it bears repeating: Relax. It’s only one game in an 82-game regular season.
With the exception of the 2007-08 Boston Celtics, who started their season 29-3, super-teams take time to come together. LeBron’s Heatles started their inaugural 2010-11 campaign with a 9-8 record. LeBron’s recent Cavs juggernaut started the 2014-15 season at 9-7. This isn’t uncommon.
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Obviously, the Warriors would rather be more like that Celtics team that won 66 games and an NBA championship in its first season together, as opposed to those LeBron teams that both lost in the Finals.
However, it bears repeating that all three of those super-teams made the Finals in their first season together, and, barring injuries, this isn’t the 2012-13 Los Angeles Lakers all over again. That team was undone by injury woes and aging stars, not having too much talent.
Speaking of talent, the Warriors have that in droves, probably more so than any super-team in NBA history. A 29-point smackdown was a truly underwhelming way to begin a season grounded in championship expectations, but there are still chemistry, bench and rebounding issues to sort out.
It will take some time for all of these new pieces to come together and learn how to win, which is why losing to a quality team like the Spurs on opening night really isn’t all that surprising.
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The Warriors clearly have a lot to work on if they want to win it all in their first year together, but before everyone starts trying to discredit a title contender, remember how meaningless 73 regular season wins became in last year’s Finals. If those wins were all meaningless at the end of the day, so too will this loss be a distant memory once this team figures itself out.