Golden State Warriors: 5 Early Season Takeaways

2. The Defense Has Room For Improvement

It’s pretty terrifying that the Warriors have posted a Net Rating of +10.3, the second-best mark in the NBA, despite having such a mediocre defense. Their league-leading offensive rating (113.8) has been getting the job done, but that 16th ranked defense still needs improvement.

On the bright side, defense has been a consistent boon during the Warriors’ ongoing eight-game win streak. During that span, the Dubs have held opponents to 102.9 points per 100 possessions, good for the 12th best mark in the NBA.

Considering the Warriors are giving up 103.6 points per 100 possessions on the season, and had surrendered 104.5 points per 100 possessions through their first six games, it’s encouraging to see signs of improvement on the defensive end.

The Dubs still have a long way to go in this regard. Zaza Pachulia is a solid positional defender, but he’s not a rim protector, which means the Warriors will need to rely more heavily on Durant, Draymond and perhaps even JaVale McGee in this regard as the competition heats up.

They also need to seriously work on the rebounding department, since their defensive rebounding percentage (73.5 percent) ranks 29th in the NBA.

However, Golden State is also leading the league in steals (9.8 per game) and limiting opponents to 43.7 percent shooting (eighth in the NBA).

The makings of a stifling defense are there, especially when Kerr goes small with his new Apocalypse Lineup, but this isn’t a championship-caliber defense just yet.