5 Positive Takeaways from Warriors' Recent Slump
The Warriors have been in a bit of a recent funk. After last night’s loss to Minnesota, the Warriors still retain a short lead for the 2nd spot in the West, but are now 6 and 8 in their last 14 games. There’s a number of things that can be pointed out as reasons for the slump: Draymond Green’s absence, Steph Curry’s slump of his own, Steve Kerr adjusting and tweaking line-ups to re-integrate Klay Thompson, and some rotational oddities that seem to have affected the rhythm of multiple players.
There’s a few other problems that could be pointed out. Players in and out of the lineup due to health and safety protocols, assistant coach Kenny Atkinson’s complications preventing him from being on the bench, and more succinct roster issues such as lack of vertical spacing or some minor playmaking concerns.
Despite these few issues, the Warriors are the second best team in the West record-wise right now, and have shown they can beat some of the best teams around at full-strength. There’s plenty of season left to play, and in the interest of brightening things up a little bit as we look towards the future, now is as good a time as ever to point out the good things we can find in these recent losses.
Honorable Mention: Better Now Than Later
This may seem a bit defeating to hear, but it really is a good thing that this slump, which is certain not to last given we’ve seen how good this team can gel given their hot start early in the season, comes before the all-star break. January is a weird time of year in the NBA, as there’s always some funky mid-season shifting going on. Title contenders aren’t taking things very seriously, playoff-hopefuls try to figure out a space of identity between “real deal” and “fraud”, and players are more focused on their all-star campaigns in some cases. A few dropped games in January, while they do bring up some issues that need to be addressed, is nothing to fuss over if and when the Warriors eventually pick up their play again.
5) Klay Thompson is Back and Comfortable
While he hasn’t put up the excellent efficiency he’s usually known for, Klay Thompson certainly seems to be playing with no fear. The mental barrier that two serious injuries can place on a player is a big one, and it may lead to them being slow to readjust and be decisive in their return. This hasn’t been the case for Thompson, who’s shooting the ball as much as he can within his minutes restriction limits. Right now, he takes 14 shots a game, split weirdly right in half as twos and threes. He shoots 35% from both ranges, but at least his free throw percentage is at a normal number for him (84%). Thompson will obviously see some positive regression to his mean as he gets his rhythm back, but he’s played well aside from that and hasn’t played scared like some would have expected him to.
4) Jonathan Kuminga’s Expanded Minutes
More minutes for the rookie! If there’s one individual bright spot to point on this list, it should be Kuminga’s elevated play in these last few games. JoKu has averaged 15 points per game on 47% shooting in his last 5 games, adding on 5 rebounds and an assist to go along with them. His free throw shooting is seeing some mild uptick to just under 70%, but given the rate he draws free throws, he should have plenty of room to practice. The main area of concern with Kuminga is his jumper, but given that he’s a rookie, that’s not much of a concern right now. If he can manage to become a player who can knock down open shots at a decent clip, just as Gary Payton II has this season, then he will earn a rotation spot come playoff-time and would be well on his way to being a franchise cornerstone much sooner than expected.
3) The Defense’s Success Despite Missing Draymond
When Green’s on the floor, the Warriors have the NBA’s best defensive rating at 102. Without him, it jumps to 109 on the season. This seems like a big gap, and it is when you talk about defensive rating, but 109 is right around the league average, and considering that they’ve been missing some key defenders in Gary Payton II recently as well, it’s pretty damn good. In their last 5 games, the Warriors have averaged a 105 defensive rating, which is still one of the best in the league. The defense has been disciplined, and most of the games have been lost due to a lack of offensive cohesion or just forgetting how to shoot on some nights. It’s a good sign that despite not having Green active, the team continues to play some solid defense.
2) Guys Stepping Up as Curry Struggles
In the Warriors’ last 15 games, while the team has struggled to win games, some guys have been stepping up. Andrew Wiggins is averaging 18 points on 48% shooting. Jordan Poole, who's struggled a bit, averages 15 on 40% but is getting to the line more frequently and shooting 90% there. Jonathan Kuminga, who we talked about earlier, averaged 9 points on 50% shooting. Kevon Looney has averaged almost 8 rebounds, with that jumping up to 11 in his last 5 games. There’s a lot of things this team is showing from individual standpoints that shows how each guy has stepped up as Curry has struggled. While he’s no doubt the engine of the offense, other guys have stepped up and pulled together to cover for him. In a 40-point win against the Chicago Bulls, Curry had another tough night, but Poole, Wiggins, and JoKu all stepped up and it didn’t even seem to matter. “Strength in Numbers” seems to really resonate with these guys, which is why when #1 happens, this team looks unbeatable.
1) The Steph Storm is Coming
Steph Curry, in his last 15 games, has averaged 24 points on 39/33/88 shooting. Pedestrian numbers, by his standards. His rhythm has looked off, and in that stretch, he’s had two of the worst games of his career, the most notable one being a 5-for-23 performance against the Miami Heat on January 3rd. It was statistically one of his worst shooting nights… except for a particular game where he shot 2-for-16, his worst ever percentage when taking at least 5 shots in a game. When did that one happen? January 9th, 2021. Curry have a winter slump isn’t exactly a new thing, as we’ve seen it before. It happened in a season where he was scoring the best in his career and willing his team to a play-in spot when they started off with such a pedestrian record. So what did he do after his slump? Averaged 32 points per game in February, had a more solid all-around stretch in March, then went ballistic and put up 37 a game in April which secured him the scoring title. Curry’s deviation from his norm is disappointing to see, but as line-ups and rotations change, it’s hard to find a solid rhythm to rock with. As we go down the stretch and the Warriors fight for a top playoff spot to secure home-court, it’s entirely possible we see more of the on-ball Steph we’ve been clamoring for. This isn’t like last season: Mistakes can be made when the team is this good, and Steph will return to form very, very soon.
(Photo credit: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)