The Golden State Warriors have the best record in the league so far and are looking poised for another championship run. This was as expected after they signed the biggest name in free-agency in the off-season, Kevin Durant. They now have the reigning and former MVP on their team, backed by championship tested teammates and some fresh role-players.
However, things are not playing out as effortlessly as the team would have liked. A starting 5 with the names Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Stephen Curry seems nearly unbeatable, and while they have only been beaten 6 times this season, their wins are not as dominating as their line-up would suggest. As unlikely as it would seem, part of the problem comes from their 2-time reigning MVP, Stephen Curry.
As what everyone expected with having 3 of the best shooters in the game today, they would not get as many ball touches as they would like to have. Curry's usage has dipped from 32.6 to 27.6 and Coach Steve Kerr recognized this when he said to ESPN "I think Steph has probably had the biggest adjustment of all of our players from Kevin [Durant]'s arrival." This can be attributed to the Warriors trying to make their new superstar comfortable in the new system he had to play in, in which Curry also participated.
Durant has easily found his place in the Warrior's offense, getting pretty much everything he wants on the floor, putting up points in relative ease. Curry, on the other hand had struggled early to find his game in the new team that they had. There were times when he took the back seat to Durant and vice versa. While this has worked well so far in terms of getting wins, the combination of Durant and Curry has so much more potential.
Half of the Warrior's 6 wins came in the month of December, including the 4th quarter collapse against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Warriors were only scoring 1.025 points per play compared to the 1.056 that they have for the month of January, where Curry has taken an average of 20 shots per game, compared to the 15 shots per game in December. (Stats from official NBA website.)
Teammate Klay Thompson expressed his opinion about this in a press conference following their dominating win over the Cavs. The video by Mercury News shows him saying "Love that he took 20 shots, When he's aggressive, we go."
The Warriors are known for running the high pick-and-roll with Curry and Green with Thompson and (formerly) Harrison Barnes waiting on opposite wings. This works well with the versatility of Green to drive, dish and shoot threes, all of which Durant can do much better. Running the high-pick for Curry with Durant presents an almost impossible situation to guard and allows Green to position himself inside better for another scoring option for the Warriors.
The dilemma of team chemistry, especially with a relatively new team is not something that is solved in just a few games. So far, the Warriors have done well to win games with their superstars, but still have more room to grow. Once they do figure things out and learn to maximize all their stars at once, Golden State will become even more difficult to beat than they are now.
