* * *
The Warriors have three wins this season after trailing by 24, 21, and 18 points. Cause for concern, or is this just the Warriors lumbering through the regular season?
* * *
David Aldridge: That doesn’t bother me. That’s boredom. What bothers is me is them playing this tough guy role all of a sudden –technicals, ejections and the like. Y’all aren’t hard like that. Nobody wants or expects you to play the villain. (Maybe Draymond.) The Dubs are the team everyone loves, even though they’re defending champs and suck all the oxygen out of every building. And that’s not fake; that’s who they are. You can compete and be a good guy. Steve Kerr is a good guy. Steph Curry is a good guy. Kevin Durant is a good guy. Shaun Livingston is a good guy. Stop woofing at the refs and acting like you want to fight people.
Steve Aschburner: Volatility in their scores isn’t enough reason to be concerned, not in November and December. But adding some of the layers we’ve seen lately — the technical fouls, the ejections, the flashes of temper or crankiness and now a dose of injury — might generate enough cause, if not for concern, at least to refocus and control better the things the Warriors can control. Come on, they’ve been to The Finals three straight years and are the heavy favorites to win their third NBA title since 2015. Life is good. They might want to calm down and go back to Draymond Green as their Chief Emotional Officer.
Shaun Powell: We haven’t reached Christmas, when the season unofficially opens, nor late January, when the pack starts to separate, so I can’t get too worked up about a team loaded with All-Stars and who are all in their prime and whether, say, the Rockets are scarier. Doesn’t much matter how the Warriors look one-fourth through the season. Only signs of concern, of course, are health (Steph Curry’s ankles?) and the rash of ejections. Maybe they’re just bored and want to get the season out of the way. I understand.
John Schuhmann: Steve Kerr has admitted that the champs don’t have the same edge this year. And yeah, there’s some concern with slow starts. The Warriors rank just 12th in NetRtg (point differential per 100 possessions) in the first quarter, their worst quarter both offensively and defensively. But they could also have easily let go of the rope after falling into such big holes. Coming back from 20-plus is pretty darn impressive in itself. Only four teams won two or more games that they trailed by 20-plus all of last season, and the Warriors have already done it in their first 25 games. Also, it should be noted that, as a whole, the league is coming back from 20-point deficits a little easier than it has in the past. With teams shooting more 3s than ever and league-wide pace at its highest mark since the 1990-91 season, scoring, from period to period, can be more volatile. We’re on pace for 31 games where a team wins after trailing by 20 plus, having had no more than 16 in any of the last nine seasons.
Sekou Smith: I’d love to be concerned but the Warriors have tricked me before, only to show themselves to be immune to the nonsense when the season is one the line. I’m more intrigued (not concerned … at least not yet) by their sudden penchant for getting sent to the showers early. All of the ejections and the inability to rise above the pettiness of a particular game has been a bit of a shock for a team that you would think operates with supreme confidence. Like Steve Kerr, I expect more of a championship team. But perhaps that’s what makes them go, keeping their skin as thin as possible so they don’t get too comfortable with themselves as they try and finish off a fourth straight season in The Finals.
* * *
- MORE BLOGTABLE: Surprised by Spurs’ success? | Who will get first All-Star selection?
