The Weekly Dish

The Warriors are still on record-setting pace, but there are issues to address.

For the week of Monday, Mar. 7 – Sunday, Mar. 13

One loss is exactly that – a single defeat. When viewed as a standalone event, the outcome of any particular game carries no more or less weight than any other game on the schedule, win or lose. So, even though the Warriors looked less than stellar in Sunday’s loss to the Lakers – heck, they were nearly unrecognizable – it didn’t hurt any more than any of the other five Warriors’ defeats this season. The point being, yes, some outcomes may appear worse than others, but that’s purely from a cosmetic standpoint. There are 82 games in the regular season schedule, and they all count equally when all is said and done.

That said, when a singular event is evaluated within a greater context, larger, more accurate conclusions often come to light. And in this case, the Warriors’ struggles on Sunday help serve that purpose. While the Warriors have continued to win games at an historic rate, lately, they haven’t performed like the record-setting squad that has been the story of the league this season, and we saw evidence of that on Sunday. Now, when you look at the box score, the area of downfall seems obvious: season-lows in three-pointers made and three-point field goal percentage, a paltry four makes on 30 attempts from long range. And while anyone would be correct in asserting that the Dubs simply aren’t going to have off-shooting nights like that very often, there is some evidence to suggest that Sunday was actually the lowest point yet in what has been a gradual but consistent dropoff in team-wide three-point shooting over the past month of games.

It seems crazy, right? After all, Stephen Curry is doing to three-point shooting what Babe Ruth did to home runs nearly a full century ago. He’s already made more treys this season than anyone else in history, and yet, for a team that’s widely renowned for their team-wide shooting prowess, it turns out that Curry’s been carrying an even larger load than initially thought. In the month of February, Curry converted four more three-pointers (67) than the entirety of his teammates on a whopping 86 fewer attempts (125), and things haven’t improved through the first week of March. As a team, the Warriors are shooting exactly 27.0 percent from beyond the arc this month, a mark that ranks third-worst in the NBA over that span and has actually been made worse by Curry’s own 24.0 percent clip. Now, obviously those numbers are a bit inflated by Sunday’s outcome, but it’s difficult to deny that the Dubs are having a rough go of it from long distance lately. However, shooters slump occasionally, and you’d naturally expect the Warriors’ three-point shooting to progress to the mean in the not-too-distant future. Yet, there’s an area of greater concern, and it’s somewhat more difficult to explain than a shooting slump.

While the Warriors have predominantly been viewed externally as an offensive juggernaut over the last several years, their defense has been what’s set them apart, and that’s the area they take the most pride in. Lately, however, the Warriors have not been nearly as strong on the defensive end as they were through the first half of the season, and the stats back it up. The Dubs’ defensive rating now sits outside the top-five in the league for the first time since the opening week of the season, and they’ve ranked a pedestrian 18th in the NBA on the defensive end since the All-Star break. You’re going to run into a buzz saw every once in awhile, but for the most part, defensive efficiency doesn’t fluctuate as much as, say, three-point shooting, because success is generally more dependent on effort than it is skill. This isn’t to say that the Warriors are lacking effort defensively – you don’t win 55 of 61 games by accident – but they haven’t executed that effort as dominantly as we’ve become accustomed to.

Given the tier of immortality this team has placed itself in the running of joining, it seems permissible to nitpick at these recent deficiencies, despite the fact that the Warriors continue to be on pace for the best record in the history of the game. They’re an incredible team and story regardless, but it may turn out that rectifying these two areas of regression, particularly the defensive execution, could prove to be the difference in their pursuit of that record. Whether they get there or not is ultimately meaningless compared to their preparedness for the postseason, and while the Warriors certainly seem headed for another deep playoff run, there are specific areas of improvement that, if addressed, could enhance the viability of that journey.

If there’s a light at the end of the three-point darkness tunnel, it may be emitting from the ball of energy that is Draymond Green. With four three-pointers last week, Green notched more treys than he had accumulated in his previous 10 games combined. He hasn’t quite been able to maintain the high standard he set from beyond the arc early in the season, but this may be a sign of an upward trend, and you can count on Green to impact the games in other ways, even if his shot isn’t falling. For the week, Green posted averages of 12.7 points, 10.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists, coming within a single point and rebound of a triple-double on two separate occasions. He’s now up to 446 assists on the season, tied for the sixth-most in the NBA and 55 more than any other non-guard. In fact, he’s on pace for the most assists in a season by a frontcourt player since LeBron James notched 651 helpers in 2009-10, the second of his back-to-back MVP seasons in his first go-around with Cleveland. While Green may not achieve that degree of accolades, there’s no denying his importance to the Warriors’ success. If the Warriors’ three-point shooting and team defense are to improve, chances are Green will be at or near the center of the action. That is typically where you can find him, after all.

On paper, the week ahead doesn’t appear to be the most daunting one of the Warriors’ season, but as we were reminded on Sunday, these are the kinds of games that have caused the Dubs some trouble this year. The Warriors get an immediate chance to bounce back from Sunday’s disappointment, beginning with the first of this week’s four home games on Monday night against the Orlando Magic. Golden State then gets visits from two possible first round playoff opponents in the Jazz and Trail Blazers on Wednesday and Friday, respectively, before rounding out the week with the second game of a back-to-back against the Suns on Saturday. Of those teams, only Portland is currently above .500, so this week presents a great opportunity for the Warriors to not only pick up several more wins, but get back to their winning ways in the process.

Till next week.