NBA regular season has been underway for over two months, with a wild and chaotic league landscape. So far, only two teams in the league have a winning percentage above 80%, namely the Cavaliers and Thunder; there are also two teams with a winning percentage above 70%, namely the Rockets and Celtics; there are three teams with a winning percentage above 60%, namely the Grizzlies, Mavericks, and Knicks; and as many as 11 teams in the league have a winning percentage between 50% and 60%, including the Nuggets, Lakers, Clippers, Suns, Timberwolves, Warriors, Spurs, Magic, Bucks, Heat, and Hawks. The Golden State Warriors are stuck in the play-in tournament area and cannot escape. Instead of saying that the Wild West is getting more competitive, it might be more accurate to say that their own strength is not strong enough. The 36-year-old Curry is tired and struggling, and the Warriors' prospects are not optimistic!
In the season so far, the Warriors have achieved a record of 15 wins and 14 losses, tied with the Suns and Timberwolves (both 15-14), temporarily ranking 10th in the West, just 0.5 games ahead of the 11th-ranked Spurs (15-15), and 1.5 games behind the 5th-ranked Nuggets (17-13), 6th-ranked Lakers (17-13), and 7th-ranked Clippers (17-13). In short, the Warriors have a pack of wolves in front of them and ferocious tigers behind them, and every game's victory or defeat is crucial! Unfortunately for the Warriors, they are experiencing a season of high starts and low finishes, with a recent state that is pitiful to behold!
According to NBA official website statistics, in the first 15 games of the season, the Warriors had a record of 12 wins and 3 losses, averaging 119.1 points per game, ranking 6th in the league, and allowing an average of 109.1 points per game, ranking 4th in the league; in the past 14 games, the Warriors' record was only 3 wins and 11 losses, averaging only 106.1 points per game, ranking 6th from the bottom in the league, and allowing an average of 113 points per game, ranking 9th from the bottom in the league. If you watched all of the Warriors' games this new season, you might have similar feelings: at the beginning of the season, the Warriors were united, with strength in numbers; recently, the Warriors have been forced to shorten their rotation, and the more they change formations, the more they struggle! According to statistics, in the first 15 games, the Warriors' bench scored as high as 54.2 points, while in the last 14 games, the Warriors' bench scored only 38.9 points!
From the start of the season when they continuously upset the Celtics, Thunder, Mavericks, Grizzlies, and other Eastern and Western powerhouses, to recently being repeatedly hammered by the Spurs, Nets, Suns, Nuggets, Thunder, Timberwolves, Rockets, Grizzlies, Mavericks, Lakers, and other Eastern and Western powerhouses, one can't help but feel: what goes around comes around, and no one is spared! In the process of the Warriors' ups and downs, Curry is also tired and struggling—Curry can score 36 points and 37 points respectively in back-to-back victories over the Thunder and Mavericks, but he will also score only 10 points with 2 out of 13 shots in a game against the Pacers; Curry can go wild with 38 points and 8 three-pointers in the Christmas Day game, but he will also score only 2 points with 0 out of 7 shots in a game against the Grizzlies.
So far this season, Curry has played 24 games, averaging 31.1 minutes per game, contributing 22.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 4.3 three-pointers (2nd in the league), with a shooting percentage of 44.4%, a three-point shooting percentage of 41.1%, and a free throw percentage of 92.3%. Even though Kerr once strictly controlled Curry's playing time, and even though Curry can still step up and take over games on certain nights, and even though "Curry's Gravity" is still the Warriors' foundation, it cannot be denied that Curry's ability to continue to explode is declining, and the once feared "Curry Day" can only return for limited times. More difficultly, Curry has been plagued by patellar tendinitis this new season. Curry and Kerr made it clear in interviews: although victory is imminent, they will consider resting Curry for one game in back-to-back matches.
Curry is at the tail end of his prime, and it is an indisputable fact that he needs help. The Warriors also brought in Schroder with empty-handed tactics to reduce the burden on Curry, but human calculations are not as good as heaven's, and Schroder's integration into the Warriors has not been good! In four games, Schroder averaged only 8.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 4 assists, with a shooting percentage of 28.3% and a three-point shooting percentage of 23.5%. According to American media reports, if Schroder cannot integrate into the team quickly, the Warriors are very likely to continue trading before the mid-season trade deadline! I don't know if Schroder can be compatible with the Warriors, and I don't know what kind of talent the Warriors can exchange Schroder for, but one thing is certain: the Warriors are now suffering for their original plan of "wanting both fish and bear's paw," which is the path they chose themselves, and they must finish it on their knees no matter how bitter or difficult it is! What do you think about this, basketball fans? Leave me a comment to discuss it.