The Golden State Warriors are still far from being a playoff lock. With Klay Thompson out, these role players on the team will need to step it up.
Going into the new season, the Golden State Warriors had a lot to look forward to after finishing at the bottom of the league last season without its superstars. The team managed to secure the second overall pick, with which they selected James Wiseman, and the Big 3 with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green reunited. However, Thompson’s recent Achilles tear just a month before the season began marks another season-ending injury for the second year in a row.
The Warriors have faced a disappointing and slow start this season. In their first match-up against the Brooklyn Nets, the Warriors lost 125-99 and were down for the entire game. Their second game against the Milwaukee Bucks ended even worse, losing by 39 points and looking equally weak on both ends of the floor. These performances have revealed some deep holes in the Warriors’ shallow bench.
Since then, things have picked up with the team racking up four wins and a record-breaking night for Steph Curry on Sunday, who scored 62 points against the Portland Trail Blazers. Golden State doesn’t have much depth, but there is still a great deal of potential and talent that can be tapped into. We already know that Steph will be doing a lot of the heavy lifting this season without his other half, but Warriors other than Curry will still need to step up and support him if the team wants to be competitive and make the playoffs.
Here are the keys for the four other starters on the Golden State Warriors. We have seen many of these keys in action already, but consistency in performance will be the most important aspect to watch out for.