29/03/2024

Stephen Curry has never opened a season on this kind of scoring binge, and the Warriors will be just fine

Lunes 31 de Octubre del 2022

Stephen Curry has never opened a season on this kind of scoring binge, and the Warriors will be just fine

As long is Curry is still playing at this level, Golden State will be in the thick of the title chase

As long is Curry is still playing at this level, Golden State will be in the thick of the title chase

Golden State Warriors v Detroit Pistons
Chris Schwegler

The Golden State Warriors are 3-4 to open the season with consecutive losses to the Hornets and Pistons, who did away with the Warriors 128-114 on Sunday night. Golden State has now given up at least 120 points in each of its first seven games to start the season. 

That's the bad streak. 

The good streak is Stephen Curry, with 32 points on Sunday, has now scored at least 30 points in six of his first seven games to open the season. That's the first time he's done that in his career, topping 2015-16, when he scored at least 30 in five of his first seven. 

It's not as if Curry cares a single bit about this streak, particularly with the Warriors playing this poorly. It's just worth pointing out how great Curry continues to look at the age of 34. If you're panicking over this start for the Warriors, rest easy. As long as Curry is still at this level, Golden State will be in the thick of the title chase come money time. 

Between now and then, Steve Kerr has said the Warriors will continue to give ample opportunities to their young guys (Moses Moody, James Wiseman and Jonathan Kuminga played a combined 56 minutes on Sunday) as they balance the race for a top-4 playoff seed with making sure their aging Curry-Draymond Green-Klay Thompson core is fresh in May and hopefully June. 

That's not to say the Warriors don't need to clean a lot of stuff up. Their defense ranks 21st overall with the league's fifth-worst foul rate, per Cleaning the Glass. Kerr continues to lament the fouling. In his postgame press conference on Sunday, he cited the 38 free throws Golden State surrendered to Detroit, not necessarily with "blatant hacks," but as a result of lackluster offensive possessions (he's called attention to the Warriors' poor shot selection of late) bleeding into scrambled transition defense, which in turn is leaving the Warriors ill-positioned to contain penetration and stay out of rotations and ultimately defend without fouling. 

Kerr saying it looks like the Warriors are playing "a pick-up game" is accurate. It's also understandable. The Warriors didn't become a dynasty by not taking regular-season habits seriously, but at the same time, you can't expect every-night urgency from a team that is beyond having to prove anything in the winter months and is clearly pacing itself. 

So let's not get worked up. Give Thompson time to get his legs under him. Let the young guys hopefully find their stride (all aboard the Moody bandwagon). And in the meantime, enjoy the scoring splurge from Curry, who will try to make it seven of his first eight games with 30-plus against Miami on Tuesday. 

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