The Weekly Dish

For Steve Kerr and Golden State, the 2016-17 season is going to be about learning how to make the whole greater than the sum of the individual parts.

For the week of Monday, Oct. 31 – Sunday, Nov. 6

Anytime a team enters a season with essentially half a roster that is new to the organizational system, there are going to be growing pains. “A lot of miscommunication, some confusion. Some of that is to be expected with half the team being new and some of the terminology,” said Steve Kerr following the Warriors’ 106-100 victory over the Suns on Sunday. “I’m not worried about it. It’s going to come. But it’s a good reminder that stuff takes time.”

The chemistry that is developed over years of playing alongside the same teammates in the same rotations at the same spots on the floor cannot be developed overnight, and thus, the 2016-17 Warriors are at a relative disadvantage compared to some of the other teams in the league who have been together considerably longer. It’s not necessarily a calculable disadvantage, and Golden State certainly possesses the talent to overcome it on most nights. Their two gritty – albeit not spectacular – road victories over New Orleans and Phoenix after a less-than-stellar performance on Opening Night are proof of that. But, all the talent in the world doesn’t necessarily guarantee victory, and as the Warriors proceed through this brand new season, how rapidly they develop that cohesion is going to go a long way towards determining how successful they ultimately will be. We know they have an abundance of talented parts. For Kerr and Golden State, the 2016-17 season is going to be about learning how all those parts fit together, and how best to use them.

You only get one chance to make a first impression, and based on Kevin Durant’s first three games with Golden State, you’d have to say he knows how to make an entrance. Durant led the Warriors in scoring in each of his first three regular season games with the team, and currently ranks fifth in the NBA with a scoring average of 31.3 points per game. In doing so, he stretched his streak of consecutive games with at least 20 points to 67-straight regular season games, the longest such streak in the league since Michael Jordan in 1990-91, and he’s the first Warriors’ player to score at least 90 points over his first three games with the club since Wilt Chamberlain did so in 1959-60. Jordan and Chamberlain…not exactly bad company. Speaking of company, Durant’s had a quality running mate in Stephen Curry, whose 25.7 points per game combine with Durant’s 31.3 to make them the highest scoring duo in the NBA. Given the fact that the Warriors have uncharacteristically struggled to get their shot to fall through the first three games, Durant’s ability to get points in a multitude of methods has proven even more valuable than initially imagined, and there’s no evidence to support this is some kind of lightning-in-a-bottle scenario. He’s a perennial All-NBA player and former MVP for a reason, and Warriors fans should be giddy with excitement knowing they’ve got the ultimate ace-in-the-hole when the offensive system sputters.

Golden State tips off the week by closing out its’ current three-game road trip in Portland on Tuesday. Damian Lillard (35.0 ppg) currently ranks fourth in the league in scoring and has the look of an early MVP candidate, and you can bet Portland’s second round exit at the hands of Golden State in last year’s playoffs is still plenty fresh in his mind. Once the Dubs return from Portland, they’ll play three of their next four games at Oracle Arena, with a brief jaunt down to Los Angeles representing the sole exception. First, Golden State will host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night in their first meeting since their seven-game Conference Finals series a few months ago; it also happens to be Durant’s first game against his former team. Following that game, the Warriors will get on a plane to head down to Los Angeles to take on the Lakers on Friday night for the back end of Golden State’s first back-to-back sequence this season. That’s two Western Conference playoff teams and one division rival in a span of four days, meaning the Warriors are sure to have their hands full in the week ahead. If they can manage to clean things up – they’ve committed more turnovers than their opponent in every game thus far – and perhaps get some three-pointers to fall, they’ll have a good chance at earning some quality early season victories on which to build upon moving forward.