Welcome to another Warriors Weekly after what should turn out to be one of the most eventful stretches of the entire regular season.
Stephen Curry (30) throws a behind the back pass past Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley (0) during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
The Week that Was:
The streak is over but there were another few fun games along the way.
Golden State made a statement early by blowing the Pacers out of the water on their home floor. Unfortunately, the backups could not hold the fort well enough and forced the starters to return. Klay Thompson hurt his ankle during that time, which definitely changed the week.
From there, the Dubs played an absolute classic in Boston. They eventually prevailed in two overtimes behind Draymond Green’s 5×5 (five or more points, assists, rebounds, blocks and steals). Beyond beating a legit team on the road, the Boston win stands out because it was one of the few games this season where Stephen Curry was not the best player on the floor. Draymond took that mantle and carried the team.
The Warriors followed that up with a largely understandable loss to the Bucks the next night. Milwaukee played their best game of the season and the Warriors (including a returning but still limited Klay Thompson) could not bring it enough to withstand their charge. Their record-breaking season-starting win streak ended at 24.
Stephen Curry Above the Break Three Update: Stephen Curry has made 108 above the break three pointers this year, more than four teams. His 45.6% shooting from there is better than every NBA team from mid-range and all but two teams in the paint (non-restricted area) not even accounting for the fact that 3>2.
Only one player in the top 30 of above the break three attempts has made a higher percentage of them than Curry and again the Warriors face that player this week: Phoenix’s Mirza Teletovic (46.3%)
Marreese Speights (5) passes the ball away from Milwaukee Bucks forward Johnny O’Bryant III (77) in the second quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
The Soapbox: Rotation Breakdown
Luke Walton temporarily taking over for Steve Kerr carries both easy and challenging aspects.
Being able to call on the league’s best player and a well-balanced team with a structure in place means that many of the hardest parts are already taken care of. However, he and the team have dealt with sky-high expectations that have only grown with their stellar play.
One aspect of Coach Walton’s season that has not been discussed much due to the team’s continued winning has been his flawed rotations. Losing both Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson in recent games certainly made the answers harder and the margins thinner but some of the issues were there all along.
The Warriors’ starting lineup stands as a testament to the value of a versatile skill set at the power forward position. Draymond Green’s ability to initiate offense and capitalize on mistakes punishes opponents who focus too much of their energy on Stephen Curry. In today’s NBA, teams should be ready to exploit opponents who put power forwards on the floor incapable of exploiting a smaller guy because that allows teams to have more shooting and playmaking on the floor. Against the Bucks, Walton failed to exploit Jason Kidd leaving Johnny O’Bryant on his second unit because he kept Marreese Speights out there. Speights’ jump shot spaces the floor nicely against centers who do not want to range out of the paint but power forwards can be there without issue. Going small with any number of players would have given the Bucks someone else to guard without a natural counter.
The other large issue became bigger this week when Klay missed time. Brandon Rush can play a role on this team but his presence in the starting lineup during Barnes’ absence gives opponents a spot for their worst defenders on offense without forcing any issues on the other end. Rush has done a nice job being efficient (he has made 53.6% of his threes as a starter, after all) but Andre Iguodala would have maximized Curry’s minutes, especially when Klay sat against the Celtics. This issue actually compounds the power forward rotation problem because the bench units did not have enough shooting to utilize Iguodala and Livingston’s skills as distributors.
One other small(er) thing: Milwaukee came into the game as the worst defensive rebounding team in the league and the Warriors could not hit a shot early. Having Festus Ezeli on the court for more of that quarter would have helped stem the Bucks’ strong start. After all, two of Golden State’s three offensive rebounds in the first came in Ezeli’s 1:36 of playing time and they missed 14 shots (8/22 by my math) before he came in.
These are not major issues on a team with this much talent and consistent effort but worth watching all the same as the Warriors continue to fight for the best record in the league and home court throughout the playoffs.
Stephen Curry (30) drives to the basket against Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe (2) at US Airways Center. The Warriors defeated the Suns 98-80. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The Week to Come:
After two weeks on the road, the Warriors are home until New Year’s Eve.
The home stand starts with Phoenix and I am fascinated to see how the team plays in their first game in a while with substantially less pressure. They will be well-rested but it could be a justifiable letdown game too.
Their only other matchup this week is the revenge game against the Bucks, which they should be up for regardless of how Phoenix turns out.
2-0 is certainly the most likely outcome but a loss would not be devastating in the least.