After a week in which they beat the Cavaliers by 35, the Thunder by 21 and the Rockets (in Houston) by 17, it’s safe to say the Kevin Durant-era Warriors are starting to look like the basketball juggernaut many envisioned they would be.
As of Monday, Golden State has the league’s best record (38-6), point differential (+13.1), and are first in in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
Despite those staggering numbers, the first half of the 2016-17 Warriors season has been largely defined by discussion of the team’s potential weaknesses, and how each one could prove to be the downfall of perhaps the greatest collection of talent ever assembled. One-by-one, however, Golden State has quelled those issues throughout their first 44 games, leaving many looking for an Achilles heel (me included) scratching their heads.
Here’s a shortlist of the things we’ve been wrong about so far.
The Warriors will struggle with rim protection after the loss of Andrew Bogut
This was probably the most popular and reasonable concern for the Warriors entering the 2016-17 season. Bogut, was, and is still, one of the best rim protectors in the NBA. Last season, he was second best amongst starting centers in defending shots at the rim, with opponents converting on just 53.2 percent of their attempts. Bogut also finished fourth in the league in blocks per 48 minutes.
Add to that the Warriors lost reserve big Festus Ezeli (also a presence) and replaced the two with the ground-bound Zaza Pachulia, it seemed there might be something to the idea that Golden State sacrificed a crucial defensive component in their chase for Durant.
Instead, the Warriors lead the NBA in blocked shots at the halfway point of the season, and are the only team in the top five of that category without a seven-footer. Well, without a listed seven-footer that is, as the “6 foot 9 inch” Durant has been far more effective as a rim protector in Golden State’s small lineup than many could have predicted.
Durant is putting up career high block numbers (1.7 per game ranking 10th in the NBA), while Draymond Green also continues to be a force at the rim, with his deceptively long arms surprising larger opponents who try take him down low. The Warriors are one of two teams in the league that have two players in the top 20 in blocked shots.
When you have this much athleticism at every position, you don’t need a traditional center to guard the cup apparently.
The Warriors’ defense has the potential to be very good, but not great, with the departures of Bogut and Harrison Barnes
This concern was somewhat tied into the previous assumption, and looked to have legitimacy during the first couple weeks of the season. The Warriors initially appeared confused on the defensive end and were consistently slow to rotate without Bogut’s communication.
Just over three months in, however, and the Warriors are back on top of the league defensively, with the length of Durant and defensive awareness of Pachulia making up for what they lost in the offseason. Again it’s been Durant who has been a revelation at the defensive end, doing things we never saw during his time in Oklahoma City.
Though Green is the presumptive favorite for defensive player of the year, and rightly so, Durant has been perhaps the Warriors best one on one defender as of late. Per ESPN Stats and Info, in the last six games when guarded by Durant, opponents are shooting 24.6 percent from the field.
Kevin Durant has been a defensive stopper for the Warriors of late pic.twitter.com/KwJfjXza5f
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 22, 2017
Pachulia has also been better than expected, making up for a lack of athleticism with good positional awareness and quick hands. Pachulia is ranked 12th in the NBA in defensive real-plus minus, and second best on the Warriors.
Scoring off the bench will be an issue
The acquisition of Durant also meant the Warriors had to say goodbye to their two primary bench scorers in Leandro Barbosa and Mo Speights. To replace the pair, Golden State was only able to afford David West on a minimum contract and looked to have rookie Patrick McCaw as their fourth player off the pine heading into the season — not an ideal situation.
It turns out the scoring issues were overstated, with West, Ian Clark and newcomer JaVale McGee all having the most efficient scoring seasons of their careers. In fact from an efficiency standpoint, Golden State’s reserves have been terrific, ranking first in the league in bench field goal percentage by a country mile at 52.6.
McGee and Clark especially have been excellent, both benefitting from the open space that comes from sharing the floor with an elite shooter or two. Clark has been lights out from deep, leading the team in three point field goal percentage (40.7). McGee’s emergence has probably been the biggest surprise for the Warriors. The big man has revitalized a dying career by filling the vacancy Ezeli left of a rim-running big man.
West’s fractured thumb will test Golden State for the next week or two. If somebody like Kevon Looney can become another surprise contributor off the bench, Steve Kerr will be thrilled.
Even if he can’t, Golden State’s ability to rotate reserves in with elite shooters puts nearly everybody who steps on the floor in a position to succeed.
