The Week that Was:
Nothing works quite like some home cooking.
After dusting off the Sixers, the Warriors faced the Raptors who entered Oracle with the top record in the East. They left Oakland trailing the Hawks after taking a 126-105 beating. Some Warriors tried to tone down any talk of it serving as a statement game but I liked Mr. Triple Double Draymond Green’s take that any game against a team they could face in the playoffs has some extra juice.
On that same logic, Monday’s game against Oklahoma City certainly possessed some additional sizzle and we heard it from the Oracle crowd. The Dubs played like it too and ran a Thunder team playing with both Durant and Westbrook off the court, holding them to 28% shooting in the first half before winning cleanly.
The Soapbox: Winning Differently
I was originally planning on doing a Four Factors follow-up with the new year but Draymond Green’s play forced me to change that.
What has been most jarring about Draymond’s dominance the last few weeks is how unsurprising it is based on what we saw last season. While my colleague Jordan Ramirez tweeted that Mr. Green should be considered for Most Improved Player, to me the difference stems more from opportunity and role than from getting better at basketball. Moving Draymond to Power Forward primarily came from necessity after David Lee’s injury but considering what we know now it is hard to imagine that discovery being anything more than an eventuality. What was even more fortuitous is that we have seen how perfectly he meshes with the starters on offense. Last season both Harrison and Draymond were saddled with sub-optimal primary ball-handlers but we are seeing now what they can do. In many ways, Green now has the perfect surrounding talent to do what he does best.
One amazing stat for you: Before tonight’s game, the Warriors had a larger disparity with Green on and off the court than the Pelicans do with Anthony Davis. Of course more than a little of that comes from a heavy overlap with Steph’s time on the floor but it still carries some weight.
I came in to this season terrified that the Warriors would go cheap and lose Draymond next summer to avoid the tax. That concern has evaporated but now the front office has to figure out how to fit in another eight figure player because Money Green will get it and be worth it.
The Week to Come:
Some well deserved days off with only two games in the next seven days without leaving the Bay Area.
A home game against the Pacers would have been substantially more daunting last year but a barrage of injuries have weakened them for this year.
Similarly, a full strength Cavs team has the offensive talent to make the Warriors sweat but they should be eminently beatable here.