The NBA regular season has been underway for over two months, and the league's landscape is wild with a touch of chaos. 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; three teams have a winning percentage above 60%, namely the Grizzlies, Mavericks, and Knicks; and as many as 11 teams 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 zone and cannot escape. Rather than 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 at 15 wins and 14 losses), temporarily ranking 10th in the West, just 0.5 games ahead of the 11th-ranked Spurs (15 wins and 15 losses), and 1.5 games behind the 5th-ranked Nuggets (17 wins and 13 losses), the 6th-ranked Lakers (17 wins and 13 losses), and the 7th-ranked Clippers (17 wins and 13 losses). In short, the Warriors have a pack of wolves in front of them and ferocious tigers behind them, and the outcome of every game is crucial! Unfortunately for the Warriors, they are experiencing a season that started high but is now declining, with a recent state that is appalling!
According to statistics from the NBA official website, 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 and strong in numbers; recently, the Warriors have been forced to shorten their rotation and are struggling more with each change! 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 Conference powerhouses, to recently being repeatedly hammered by the Spurs, Nets, Suns, Nuggets, Thunder, Timberwolves, Rockets, Grizzlies, Mavericks, Lakers, and other Eastern and Western Conference contenders, 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 can 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 can 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 (second 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. It's even harder because Curry has been plagued by patellar tendonitis this new season. Curry and Kerr made it clear in interviews that although victory is imminent, they will consider resting Curry for one game in back-to-back games.
Curry is at the tail end of his prime, and it's an undeniable fact that he needs help. The Warriors also brought in Schroder to reduce the burden on Curry with an empty-handed approach, but human calculations are not as good as fate, 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 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 no matter how bitter or difficult it is! What do you think about this, basketball fans? Leave me a comment to discuss it!