The Golden State Warriors have been tremendous since the beginning of the season. Given their spectacular performance, they certainly are the number one favourites to qualify to the NBA Finals for a third straight time. Concurrently, the Warriors also have the best record in the entire league so far (47-9).
A few weeks after losing the title to the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James in a shocking way last summer, the Golden State Warriors made one of the best decisions in the history of the NBA; they signed one of the league’s biggest superstars, Kevin Durant.
Despite the departure of some key players, like Andrew Bogut and Harrison Barnes, GSW remains a formidable team and is the crowd favourite to win the coveted title, based on CrownBet online basketball odds. With Durant in the team, who was expected to help the Warriors become dominant in the league, the club has taken it to the next level.
Although the team has failed to remain undefeated (just like they did last year, during the first one third of the season), the Warriors are easily claiming victories, thanks to their impressive offensive performance.
More specifically, they still have the league’s best offence (averaging 118.2 points per game) and are also first in the assists category (with an impressive 31 per game) and seventh in total rebounds (44.5 rpg).
Apart from Durant (25.8 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game), Golden State is consisted of four more players that perform at very high standards as well.
Stephen Curry (24.7 points, 6.4 assists, 41% from range) and Klay Thompson (22.1 ppg, 42.2% from beyond the arc), commonly known as the “Splash Brothers”, are very productive on both ends of the floor, but, most importantly, they have managed to effectively co-operate with Durant.
Concurrently, the duo of Draymond Green (10.2 points, 8.2 boards, 7.3 assists and 2.1 steals per game) and Andre Iguodala (49.6% in field goals, 36.1% in three-pointers) acts as the supporting cast, thanks to their great on and off-ball defence, while their versatile skills enable them to make the difference offensively, too.
The aforementioned five players are responsible for the squad’s current, extraordinary record (47-9). However, their bench certainly needs to become deeper.
Apart from Javale McGee (67.8% in two-pointers), David West (50% from range) and Zaza Pachulia (six rebounds per game), who can offer decent solutions inside the paint and above the rim, only Shaun Livingston can be considered a reliable back-up for the Warriors’ back-court line.
That said, and despite being first in the offensive and defensive ratings (especially in the last one and a half months), respectively, it’s the team’s chemistry that has helped the Warriors be on top of the standings.
Due to their up-tempo playing style, the players need to keep their energy at very high levels in every game as well as adapt to their coach’s, Steve Kerr, tactics. As a result, they need to play for one another in order to prevail over their opponents.
And that’s exactly what they have done until now, managing to find the ideal balance between their extraordinary talent and team spirit.
So far, Kerr’s team plays great basketball on both ends of the floor in their effort to lead the Golden State Warriors to another first place at the end of the regular season, which will give them the home-court advantage until the NBA Finals.
Coming from back-to-back wins on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder (with Durant returning to the city for the first time since his departure), respectively, and with six victories in their last eight matches, they seem perfectly capable of going all the way to the end.
To sum up, the bottom line is that if the coach and players keep on performing at the same high standards until the end of the season, it will be very difficult for their opponents to prevent them from winning their second NBA title in three years.
