Delivering their best possible regular season after reaching the top for the fourth time in eight years isn’t something to be overly motivated about. Golden State Warriors started this season 2022-2023 far from the level they showed months ago in the Finals. The defending champions looked like they were on vacation, while the rest worked every night to win. The problem is, as the days went by, nothing seemed to work and their credit ran out. those of Steve Kerr he was on the ropes.
That bad start, which resulted in a balance 3-7It was a symptom of many things: a drop in the level of the team, a drop in the performance of important names, stagnation of some youngsters… The question is that their main figure and guide, Stephen Curry he seemed oblivious to that negative dynamic. His level was MVP, the complete opposite of those who shared the dressing room with the star.
That’s the only way to explain how such an erratic team with so many shortcomings could stick around 50% wins when the reality is that it should have been much lower.
By the time Curry wound up against him Pacers on December 14th all alarms sounded. The Warriors have lost their key advantage for at least 3 weeks, and in a crucial stretch of the stretch. And given the results, it was unthinkable to expect the team to survive the challenge.
However, it was. Not only that, but thanks to the collapse of their rivals, they have gone from clinching the Play-In zone to returning to the places that give them direct access to the Playoffs. With a record of 20-19 and in sixth place the Warriors show a very different picture to a month ago, even though their balance sheet is very similar.
The important; Inside Golden State there was one change which can save your time.
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The return of the best Klay Thompson
Coming back from an injury is never easy, especially when it’s two and long lasting. In perspective, his comeback season Clay Thompson It paid more than expected standards. More if one considers how long it was, incl Regular phase and playoffs.
With so little rest between the final game of the Finals and the first of the preseason, it’s understood the guard reported physical discomfort. With that in mind, Klay started the current run at a slower pace than usual with limited minutes, charge management and 33% foreign success.
Physical conditioning in the professional world is designed to reach peak performance at the end of the course, never at the beginning. This becomes more apparent the older the players are.
Clay has gone from less to more and when he was really needed the team went up two gears at once.
Since Curry’s injury, Thompson has performed admirably. In those last 12 games, the guard became the point of reference on both ends for the Warriors with Averaged 25.5 points, shooting 38.7% on threes in 35.5 minutes on average.
Last season his minutes were just 30.7.
The veteran is physically fit and that affects his motivation and performance, which explains performances like the one he had against him hawkswhere did he go 56 points. All this on one of the best streaks of his career, stringing together 3 straight games of 30 or more points.
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The appearance of secondary
The soul of the Warriors who were champions last season resided in their rotation players. Indifferent names for the general public such as e.g Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr or Nemanja Bjelica They were very consistent in their positive results, both in the regular season and in the playoffs. In the first phase of this campaign, the signatures to replace these and other victims did not work, nor did the young people who had to step forward.
However, the turnaround in Golden State came from within, from lesser-known faces. One player in particular mattered a lot: Donde DiVincenzo.
The former Bucks and Kings became the team’s third leading scorer in Curry’s absence, scoring 10.8 points on 41.8% 3-point shooting, 6.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.6 steals. The shooting guard has acted as a swiss army knife for Steve Kerr, performing key defensive and playmaking duties.
Along with DiVincenzo, two last-minute replacements came to the team, such as Ty Jerome and Anthony Lamb. Two secondary that have the word “effort” etched in fire and that in this short period have been the pillars of the Californians.
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