The scene in San Francisco is much different than this time last year for the Golden State Warriors. Last season the team tried to get past the Draymond Green-Jordan Poole incident and were on the battle bus early. A year later, Poole was shipped to Washington in favor of Chris Paul, and the Warriors are one game back of first place in the Western Conference behind Denver and Dallas. One of the main differences is that we don’t talk about Golden State much, and that’s good.
Golden State simply isn’t as feisty as it was in the 2022-2023 campaign. They were coming off another NBA championship that included the drama permeating the organization and questions about chemistry.
This year, the biggest storyline for the Warriors was how the team would do that feature with Paul in the line-up. So far so good, as the Dubs are 6-2 to start the year, with CP3 fitting in well. In fact, he’s off to a historic start with 62 assists in the first eight games and just six goals.
Stephen Curry appears to be getting better with age as he is back among the league’s top scorers, averaging 30.9 points per game. Curry was red hot from behind the arc, shooting 47.5 percent. After all these years and the fact that he’s getting older, teams still don’t have an answer for Chef Curry.
Last year, Golden State’s main bug-a-boo played on the road. They finished the season 11-30 away from Chase Center. This year they had a tough schedule early and are 5-1. Having a new floor general to lead the second unit in Paul has worked well since Green returned after missing the first few games.
Another big advantage for the Warriors last season was turnover. Not that this hasn’t been the case in the past, but they hit rock bottom and were in last place in the league. Through eight games, Golden State is closer to the middle of the pack in terms of turnovers, which is an improvement. Even the smallest improvement can mean the most in the long run.
These dubs look and feel like a completely different team, though most of the same parts remain. So far, the Warriors have only one player averaging over 20 ppg. The second leading scorer, Klay Thompson, records 16.6 ppg. After him comes Jonathan Kuminga with 12.7. Andrew Wiggins has struggled so far, but with the rise of Fiveit may take a while for Wiggins to get back on track.
They may not be the explosive offensive team they were last season, but the Warriors are winning early and seem drama-free. This feels like two years ago, when the dubs entered the season with few expectations from the outside world. They were coming off a few injury-plagued years and were still waiting for Thompson to return.
Now is the time to fear the Warriors. When you don’t see them coming and take them for granted, like people did two years ago. Remember, they won the title all season long when no one expected much from them. Some said their championship window had closed and it was time to move on. Keep an eye on this franchise as they have the pedigree and could sneak in another title before their run is over.