Warriors opening up challenging homestand
Seven-game homestand may reveal whether Golden State is playoff-caliber
After an eventful four- game trip to open the season, the Warriors are bracing for perhaps the most challenging stretch of their season.
Prior to Friday’s home opener, the Warriors were the only team in the NBA that had not yet played a home game. They are looking forward to playing the next handful of games at Chase Center, but they’re not getting much relief.
“It’s kind of weird, I don’t feel like there’s much home- court advantage having been on the road,” Steph Curry said after playing four games in empty arenas. “But being in our own space, in our routine and to be around our family, hopefully that’ll be a positive for us.
“We got a pretty tough schedule coming up,” Curry added, “so we’ve got to take advantage” of every edge available to the Warriors.
Starting with Friday’s home opener against the Portland Trail Blazers, Golden State will play
“... Being in our own space, in our routine and to be around our family, hopefully that’ll be a positive for us.”
– Stephen Curry, Warriors guard.
seven games in 12 days — six against teams that made the playoffs and another against the surprisingly frisky Sacramento Kings.
This will be yet another challenge in an uncompromising schedule that started with games against championship contenders in Brooklyn and Milwaukee. After getting drubbed by a combined 65 points, the Warriors beat two winless teams — Chicago and Detroit — and started to learn how they need to play.
The Warriors came into the season knowing they wanted to play fast and launch 3- pointers. After four games, they rank second in pace and sixth in 3-point attempts per game with 39.5 — five more than any previous team under Steve Kerr, now in his seventh season as coach.
After failing to score 100 points in either of the first two games, the Wa r r i o r s scored 129 in Chicago and 116 at Detroit. Granted, the competition was different. But so was the Warriors’ approach as Kerr simplified the offense to incorporate more pick-and-roll.
The new approach allowed Andrew Wiggins to settle into a play-making role, find his rhythm and emerge as a secondary scorer while Draymond Green was sidelined because of foot and conditioning issues. Over the last two games, Wiggins is averaging 23 points on 44.1% shooting, 8.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 37.3 minutes per game.
While Wiggins is thriving with the ball in his hands, Kerr has yet to find the best role for Kelly Oubre Jr., who the Warriors acquired
in a trade after Klay Thompson suffered a seasonending Achilles tear before the season.
Unlike Wiggins, Oubre does not have a track record for running an offense, and is better when playing off other ball-handlers. His best moments so far this season have come when he’s attacking the basket against a scrambling defense or finishing in transition.
To leverage Oubre’s length, athleticism and dunk- everything attitude, Kerr may consider positioning the 6-foot-7 wing in the corner and in the dunker spot near the rim more often. From these spots, Oubre (1 of 21 from 3-point range) can attack closeouts, crash the offensive glass and take more shots in the restricted area.
Tuesday’s win against the Pistons offered signs that Golden State’s young core is learning how to play with Curry. In the first three games, Curry’s teammates
cluttered his path and forced him to take contested pull-up jumpers. That’s something Juan Toscano-Anderson pointed out when watching film after the team’s one-point win in Chicago. Against the Pistons, he assisted Curry on two made 3-pointers.
“The action has to be continuous when Steph is out there,” said Kerr, who added it usually takes players a couple of months to feel comfortable playing with Curry.
But the Warriors don’t have a couple of months. In this condensed 72-game season, every game matters a little more and, after a 15-50 record last season, making the playoffs is paramount.
Against the Trail Blazers, Clippers, Raptors and Pacers, the Warriors will need to speed up the jelling process. They know they’re not title contenders this season but, after this homestand, they’ll have a better idea how far off they are.