Can the Warriors Stay Hot After Favorable Travel Schedule?
The Golden State Warriors are 11-1. There are a multitude of reasons why this is, with the primary one being that they’re just really good at basketball. Steph Curry has the highest total plus-minus in the league, as well as the best plus-minus per game… ever. The weapons are clicking together into their system, the defensive effort and energy has been insane, and Klay Thompson has yet to come back. This team, in short, is pretty scary as an opponent.
A lot of questions have been coming up about whether their strength of schedule, admittedly one of the lowest around the association, has to do with it. The answer should be no, as they have wins over good teams (or what should be a good team in the Lakers) like the Bulls and Clippers. People cite major injuries, but fail to bring up the fact that Klay Thompson still isn’t playing and the Warriors margin of victory is still sizable double-digits.
They may have played some bad teams which helped them get off to such a hot start, there’s no denying that. But one other thing they’ve had in their favor is home-court advantage: The Warriors have had an 8-game home stand to start the season, churning out their wins on the Chase Center court. The Warriors historically have had one of the best homecourt advantages in basketball, especially during their first two Finals runs and the subsequent Kevin Durant years, and tend to win in front of their fans a lot more than they lose.
Their record playing at home isn’t particularly shocking, as it’s the case with most teams, but it does raise the question: Are the Golden State Warriors really the best team in the West right now? The short answer is yes because they’ve been dominating bad and good teams alike while holding the NBA’s top record. It would be ridiculous to suggest that other teams are in a better spot than they are, but whether that’s because the team is just really good (and they looked REALLY good against the Bulls, who shared the #1 seed in the East with the Wizards) or because they have so many extra-basketball advantages is more up for debate.
The Dubs have a few pretty important games coming up that should be able to gauge how they’re doing so far. Tonight, they travel to Charlotte for their 2nd matchup with the Hornets, and on Tuesday they play the title-favorite Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center. They play the Sixers, who were off to a hot start before Joel Embiid had to take some time off for injury, the day before Thanksgiving, and will see the reigning Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns for two straight games at the end of November.
The real test will be their stretch of road games. They’ve played one game outside the state of California their whole first 12 games, a win over Oklahoma City, and will now play 4 against some not-so-tough teams outside the Nets game. Will the Warriors burn out on the road? The likely answer is no, but it remains to be seen just how good this team actually can be before falling back down to earth… if they ever do.
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