For much of the Golden State Warriors’ previous 10 games, they’ve been without their best player on both ends: two-time MVP Stephen Curry and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Draymond Green. Amazingly, it hasn’t mattered. Golden State has ripped off 10 consecutive wins, while also missing key contributors Andre Iguodala (3 games), Shaun Livingston (3 games), and Zaza Pachulia (6 games) during the streak. The performances haven’t exactly been consistant — they shot a combined 43.05 percent in their last two victories against the below average Grizzlies and Lakers — but it is somewhat remarkable that Golden State has put together their longest winning streak of the season, during the most injury-riddled stretch of the Kerr era.
The simple answer to the question of how the Warriors has pulled this off is defense. Even without Green for five of the last six games, the Warriors have posted a defensive rating of 97.6 without him, which would be the best in the NBA by an incredible three points. In fact, the Warriors’ defense during this stretch has seen them jump up the overall defensive rankings to third in the league, just .2 points behind the Thunder and Celtics.
The emergence of Kevin Durant as a bonafide first-team All-Defensive candidate has certainly helped mitigate the absence of Green, something that would’ve harder to overcome in previous years. As has the rejuvenated David West, who amazingly leads all NBA players (yes all NBA players) in defensive real-plus minus so far this season. Rookie power forward Jordan Bell has been good in his own right on the defensive end, with a DRPM that ranks 27th in the league. Not to mention Klay Thompson, who has the fifth best defensive rating of any player in the NBA during the Warriors’ ten-game streak.
All of this is to say that the Warriors’ depth and defensive versatility has been enough to withstand the short term absence of their anchor in Green, and keep Golden State competitive in games where they are also without their talisman in Curry.
Speaking of stepping up, Kevin Durant is having one of the best stretches of his career. It was reasonable to ask the question of whether or not the team would stumble without Steph at the helm, as the Kerr-era Warriors had never gone an extended period without him. In fact, the Warriors were looking inconsistent with him in the lineup by their standards in 2017, and it seemed like a reasonable proposition to assume, at least initially, that both Golden State and Durant would take some time to adjust without Curry stretching the floor to obscene levels.
Instead, Durant has looked exactly like he did when Russell Westbrook was out for a stretch during the 2013-14 season. Over the past six games, KD is averaging 32.2 points, 10.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.8 blocks, far surpassing anything he has done during his time in the Bay Area. Golden State’s offense hasn’t been better without Curry — their overall offensive rating is down from 114.6 to 108.5 per NBA.com — but would still be good for fourth best in the league when Durant is on the floor.
Perhaps most interesting is that Golden State has changed it’s style somewhat with so many key players missing time, but has still be able to eek out wins. The Warriors had two fast break points on Wednesday night. Their assist rate is down slightly during the streak, while their three-point rate down significantly, from ninth to 25th in the league. The injuries have forced Golden State to slow down the pace and resort to more iso ball, two things that in the past were a death knell. With the addition of Durant, and his ability to score in the half-court seemingly at will, the Warriors are showing they can now beat you in that style if need be, and that should terrify the rest of the league.
Much of this has to do with the Warriors’ exceptional, and improved, depth this season. Golden State is undoubtably the most top heavy team in the NBA, with three perennial all-stars in the starting lineup, but they are also the most balanced squad, with a reserve unit that has the best net rating (10.8) in the league. Even when missing multiple all-stars, no team is more equipped to weather the storm, and the position-less nature of many of Golden State’s players make mixing and matching a much easier proposition.
It should be noted that Golden State has been able to take advantage of a somewhat easy schedule during this streak. Only five of the nine teams they’ve played would make the playoffs if they started today, and only three of the teams have winning records. Things will really start to get interesting December 23-27 when the Warriors are likely to face the Nuggets, Cavs (on Christmas), and Jazz all without Curry. The good news for those games is that Golden State should be in much better shape by that point (Draymond Green is expected to return Friday), and if Durant can keep up at his current pace offensively, there is an outside chance that a full strength Warriors squad, on a 17 game winning streak, will head to Houston to face the Rockets on January 4.
Regardless, the recent stretch of bad injury luck has been a blessing in disguise for Golden State. It has tested them from both a personnel and stylistic standpoint, and shown that the roster has been constructed so impeccably, that they can survive with four key players on the shelf for a short stretch. It has also served as a reminder as to why the Warriors wanted to acquire Kevin Durant so badly in the first place as insurance for Curry.
“Durant’s really important to them, but we saw how well they played without him last season when he went down for 20-plus games toward the end,” Howard Beck of Bleacher Report said on KNBR Thursday. “Steph is obviously incredibly important to them, but we’re seeing what they can do. Because you’ve got an MVP caliber player who can carry the offense, and guys who have been together for a while and can understand how to play defense with each other. They have always been able to fall back on that. When you’ve got elite shooters, elite creators. it carries you a long way.”
All statistics via NBA.com
