This offseason, it was hard not to focus on the shock of seeing Klay Thompson in a different jersey and wondering what that would mean for the Warriors’ chemistry. There was (and still is) talk about how Golden State needs to land a second star in addition to Stephen Curry.
Through it all, the Warriors front office was quietly willing to tell anyone who would listen that their team had gotten better. Deeper. A kind of ‘just watch, you’ll see’ atmosphere.
We look and see now.
Any doubts about this team should have been answered when they came back from seven points midway through the fourth quarter to beat the defending champion Celtics in Boston on Wednesday. It doesn’t matter that the Celtics were shorthanded, this was a Golden State team that showed real grit and came back to win a game they wouldn’t have played a season ago.
“It’s a statement,” Buddy Hield told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole. “If we don’t win this game, everyone will say, ‘Oh, they’re not playing anyone.’ So you have to come and make a statement, right?
That statement starts with defense.
The Warriors defense is back
We’ll forever call this the Stephen Curry era in Golden State, but those four championship banners hang in the Chase Center because those Warriors had one of the best defenses in the league.
That defense is back and looks a little different, but still elite. A defense that held Boston to 40 points in the first half and made stops along the way when they needed it.
A defense that ranks second in the NBA in defensive rating and is 10.6 points per 100 possessions better than it was a season ago.
The difference is staff. That and the voice of new assistant coach Jerry Stackhouse in their ear.
This year’s Warriors are younger and more athletic and pressure the ball all over the court – they are ball handlers who catch and swarm the ball. They jump lanes. They are disruptive.
“We’re just trying to keep bodies on bodies in the half court….” Curry told NBC Sports Bay Area. “We are a little bigger than last year. We have more full-backs. If we can get a rebound, we’re usually in good shape.”
It’s a much more aggressive defense than we’ve seen from Steve Kerr teams in the past – credit Stackhouse for some of that (you can hear him shouting defensive calls on the broadcast, he’s not shy). A healthy Gary Payton II coming off the bench has also played a big role in the turnaround. He looks like a stopper that Kerr can turn to in key moments.
Kerr is also committed to playing a big man — usually Trayce Jackson-Davis but sometimes a thinner and good-playing Kevon Looney — next to Draymond Green, allowing perhaps the greatest defender of a generation to return to being a more free safety. who can help or switch when called upon.
It all worked out.
Kerr’s lesson from Paris: play against everyone
These Warriors are going deeper – and Steve Kerr is leaning into it.
While the focus was on Thompson’s departure, the Warriors brought in Buddy Hield, a sharpshooter who has thrived in the Warriors’ motion offense thus far, averaging 21.1 points per game while shooting 50.7% from 3. Golden State also brought in De’Anthony Melton and Kyle. Anderson (both slowed by injuries), and they have a healthy Payton off the bench.
Kerr was reminded during the Paris Olympics to trust his bench (even if Jayson Tatum disagrees). Sure, it’s easy to trust a bench that includes Anthony Davis, Anthony Edwards, Jrue Holiday, Bam Adebayo and Tatum, but Kerr brought that same mentality to the Warriors and they thrived because of it.
Legs are kept fresh. No one on the Warriors is averaging more than 28.1 minutes per game (Brandin Podziemski), but 11 players are playing at least 15 minutes per night. Kerr went 11 deep on his bench against Boston and the man who played the fewest minutes was Lindy Waters III at almost 14. (Curry, Green and Andrew Wiggins all played more than 30 minutes in that game).
The Warriors are also more disciplined in attack, with an emphasis on not turning the ball over, something that has been an Achilles heel for the Peak Warriors.
“We can’t be the same team we were five or six years ago and give away five or six possessions in the name of creating chaos,” Kerr said after the Celtics’ win, yelling at Curry for a sloppy turnover. “Everyone plays fast these days and also shoots 3s.
“Boston shot 20 more threes than we did in the second half. So it’s hard to win when you give away assets. I visited Steph and Draymond. It’s their duty because they are our leaders and they are the guys who handle the ball the most. They need to cut back on such bad decisions.”
So far, so good.
The Warriors are still looking for a new quality shot maker and scorer, they’ll probably need one in the playoffs, when every team is good and the defense is more focused on things like slowing Curry or stopping Hield. However, the trade dynamic is different now than it was when the Warriors sat out the pursuit of Paul George and Lauri Markkanen this season. These Warriors don’t need to feel pressure to make a move. There is no despair. With the clock ticking on Curry and Green’s careers, the Warriors look like a threat right now without that second scorer. There is no need for Golden State to overpay.
Only eight games into the NBA season – think of it as a 3-mile marathon. Most of the race and the challenges lie ahead, but a pace and rhythm have been established.
That rhythm makes the Warriors look like contenders in the West – because they’re back to defending like the Warriors in the championship.
