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Golden State Warriors: 5 Takeaways From Opening Week

By Gerald Bourguet

Oct 28, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) and forward Kevin Durant (35) during the fourth quarter of a game against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center. The Warriors defeated the Pelicans 122-114. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 28, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) and forward Kevin Durant (35) during the fourth quarter of a game against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center. The Warriors defeated the Pelicans 122-114. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /
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Golden State Warriors
Nov 1, 2016; Portland, OR, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) shoots the ball over Portland Trail Blazers forward Al-Farouq Aminu (8) during the first quarter of the game at the Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Where’s The Three-Point Touch?

Klay Thompson wasn’t the only Warrior wondering where his three-point shot went during the first week of action, however.

After leading the league in three-point efficiency at 41.6 percent in 2015-16 (with their closest competition shooting 37.5 percent from downtown), the Dubs have shot a paltry 29.3 percent from deep, currently ranked 22nd in the association.

Those marks will obviously improve as time goes on and players get more comfortable, but Curry (44.7 percent) is the only one holding up his end of the bargain so far as several players who were very efficient last season have all slumped at the same time:

  • Klay Thompson:  42.5% in 2015-16 —> 10.7%
  • Draymond Green:  38.8% in 2015-16 —> 30.8%
  • Andre Iguodala:  35.1% in 2015-16 —> 22.2%
  • Kevin Durant:  38.7% in 2015-16 —> 23.1%

Again, you can expect almost all of those numbers to skyrocket as the season wears on. A four-game sample size makes the percentages look much worse than they are, especially since we know for a fact that Curry, Thompson and Durant are three of the NBA’s most lethal long range shooters.

There are a few other encouraging signs for their three-point attack as well. Last year, the Dubs shot a league-leading 37.5 percent on threes where the closest defender was 2-4 feet away, per NBA.com. So far this year, that number has plummeted to 5-for-25 (20 percent, ranking 20th in the NBA).

The Warriors also shot an NBA-best 41.9 percent on shots that NBA.com classifies as “open,” with the nearest defender being 4-6 feet away. This year, that number has dropped to 32.3 percent, ranked 17th in the league.

But it’s the “wide open” threes (with the nearest defender being 6+ feet away) where the Dubs have uncharacteristically struggled the most. Last year, they converted a league-best 43.8 percent of such attempts, with such shots constituting 14.1 percent of their offensive frequency.

Through the first four games of 2016-17, despite increasing that frequency to 15.4 percent (meaning they’re getting an even higher quality of three-point looks), the Warriors have shot an abysmal 15-for-54. That 27.8 conversion rate is ranked 28th in the league — after leading all teams in that same category a year ago.

With so much shooting in this starting lineup, you can expect those numbers to drastically improve. Opening night jitters, getting used to new teammates and an almost entirely new bench have probably contributed to such an underwhelming start from downtown, but the quality of looks are as good as they’ve ever been. Sooner or later, those shots will start falling.

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