Checklist for Golden State Warriors During Season's Homestretch
At 44-10, the Golden State Warriors continue to pace the brutal Western Conference—something they have done for the better part of the 2014-15 season. But with 28 games remaining on the schedule, Steve Kerr’s club is far from being out of the woods.
Just 3.5 games separate Golden State and the second-place Memphis Grizzlies while the Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers are all at most just 8.5 games out of the top spot.
Of course, Memphis clearly provides the Warriors with the most immediate pressure when it comes to holding onto the conference lead. But the bottom line is that Golden State can’t in any way afford to rest on its laurels.
Luckily, there are plenty of things Stephen Curry and Co. can do to make sure they earn home-court advantage throughout the postseason.
Stay Healthy
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As cliche and generic as it is, the Warriors must stay as healthy as humanly possible as they make their way through the season’s final stretch.
Andrew Bogut, Festus Ezeli and even David Lee have been known to succumb to injury over the course of their respective careers, and now Golden State might have to be at least a little bit concerned about Steph Curry’s recent malady in his right foot.
“I haven’t been around long enough to have been through (Curry’s) absences,” head coach Steve Kerr told SFGate.com’s Rusty Simmons. “But obviously we’re going to be careful, regardless of what the injury is, with all of our guys. Particularly with the ankle with Steph—since he’s had surgery on it—you probably even take extra precaution.”
Despite his coach’s remarks, though, Curry doesn’t believe the soreness he’s currently experiencing has anything to do with ankle injuries and surgeries past.
“I hate when I even hear that word (ankle),” the two-time All-Star told Simmons. “I had such an issue with it. It makes me feel better knowing that it’s not the same thing. I’m two years removed from all that stuff.”
For the Warriors' sake, they had better hope Curry truly is just feeling general soreness. And after a monster game against the Washington Wizards Tuesday night, it seems that could be the case.
But like Kerr said, it’s something to monitor. As is the well-being of other rotation guys like Bogut, Ezeli and Lee. If all hands remain on deck, the Warriors should have little trouble finishing the year as the West’s No. 1 seed.
Get David Lee and Andre Iguodala Involved More Offensively
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Although the Warriors currently own the league’s second-best offense, scoring 109.6 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com, the team isn’t getting the type of production off the bench that it should be.
Marreese Speights being the lone exception (11.2 points per game), some of Golden State’s most important rotation players have been underwhelming on the offensive end of the floor, particularly David Lee (8.4) and Andre Iguodala (7.5).
Lee’s smaller average is somewhat understandable, as the veteran forward has only been logging about 19 minutes a night. But Iguodala has very little room for excuses given that he’s getting nearly 30 minutes of burn in a typical Warriors contest.
Iggy doesn’t need to make any earth-shattering adjustments, though. Most of his potential points are left at the free-throw line, where he’s knocking down attempts at just a 54.3 percent clip.
Regardless, the Warriors are going to need more than just Speights putting the ball in the basket whenever the starting five are getting a breather. The next two men up are Lee and Iguodala, and averaging anything less than 10 points from here on out would be a little disappointing.
Take Care of the Easy Ones
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Competing in a conference where any loss can cost a team position in the postseason race, Golden State needs to avoid dropping matchups against the league’s lesser squads.
Twelve of its remaining games will be played against teams currently out of the playoff picture, including a softball stretch in March when it'll take on the Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons, Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers in consecutive games.
These are all contests that must be won without question, considering that the other 16 meetings come against teams that are contenders on one level or another.
Since it’s unlikely the Warriors run the table the rest of the way, adding unnecessary losses to their record is dangerous, especially with the Grizzlies looming in the shadows.
Keep Eyes on the Prize
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Arguably the most important thing for the Warriors to realize as they inch toward the postseason is that they haven’t accomplished anything yet.
Don’t get me wrong; boasting a 44-10 record is nothing to sneeze at. But after getting bounced from the playoffs in the first and second rounds over the past two years, respectively, Golden State hasn’t proved to be a serious threat just yet.
This year should be different, though. Kerr has the Warriors playing incredible basketball, and in turn they’re running through opponents of every caliber.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having fun while winning ball games, and the Warriors do just that. As long as they stay focused and continue to lock in on the task at hand, the No. 1 seed is theirs to lose.
Draw from Experience
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The biggest difference for Golden State between this year and last is the presence of a five-time NBA champion.
Transitioning from Mark Jackson to Steve Kerr has gone better than anyone could have expected, and although both coaches were good players in their own right, Jackson just doesn’t have the postseason experience that Kerr brings to the table.
Kerr has been there and done that whether it’s been with the Chicago Bulls or San Antonio Spurs. He knows what it takes to earn a No. 1 seed in a playoff race, and he knows what goes into making a lengthy run through the playoffs.
Despite the 2014-15 season being his first as a head coach, Kerr comes from a coaching tree that includes greats like Gregg Popovich and Phil Jackson—two men who know a little bit about winning basketball games.
Emotions are sure to run high over the next couple of weeks, and it will be important for Kerr’s players to seek him out for advice on how to handle being the type of team with a target on its back.
Apparently Kerr and his guys have already started this process, as Andrew Bogut explained to Shaun Powell of NBA.com.
"Every couple of weeks he'll meet with guys individually and get their thoughts about how they're playing and what they need to do to get better and what he needs to do,' said Warriors center Andrew Bogut. 'It's open dialogue. There's no agendas, nothing personal, no favorites.
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Whatever it is Kerr and Co. discuss during one-on-one time together, it's transitioning to the court, and the results have been outstanding. As they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
All stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
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