Golden State Warriors Face Demanding Stretch Ahead

The league best 29-5 Golden State Warriors are set to face the Utah Jazz tonight in the first game of a stretch of four games in five nights.

Golden State, fresh off of a dominant 6-0 home stand where they had an average margin of victory over 22 points, is now gearing up for one of its most physically grueling stretches of the season.

After playing the Jazz tonight, the Warriors will play the Miami Heat at Oracle Arena on Tuesday, followed by another back-to-back set in Oklahoma City and Houston to face the Thunder and Rockets.

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You could point to a number of reasons for why the Warriors should be able to push through and find ways to win to win this week. For one, they are playing as good of basketball as any team in the league. Their chemistry on the court is only getting stronger, and head coach Steve Kerr seems to be guiding this team in the right direction.

The main reason why the Dubs are suited as well as any team in the association for this stretch is their depth. David Lee and Andrew Bogut are both healthy and on the floor and playing extended minutes for the first time this season.

Assuming Bogut is inserted back into the starting lineup – Kerr has strongly indicated this will happen in one of the Warriors next couple of games – the Warriors second unit will consist of Shaun Livingston, Justin Holiday, Andre Igudoala, Lee, and Marreese Speights, players who would almost be surefire starters on many other teams in the league. With the ridiculous amount of depth that the Warriors have coming off the bench, simply put, Kerr can’t find minutes for Leandro Barbosa and Brandon Rush, players who would surely be getting good bench minutes for a lot of other organizations.

The Warriors’ starting unit of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green and Bogut will rarely, if ever, be relied on to play 40+ minutes and carry the team to victory, as has been the case all season.

Kerr has an extremely deep and talented roster, and there is no calculation or formula for how many minutes each guy should play – whoever has the hot hand will be getting time on the court and in for crunchtime.

Of course, Golden State will not want to lose any games coming up, but you still have to look at the big picture. Coach Kerr will not drive any of his players into the ground and risk injury this week just to pull out victories in January.

Taking care of the Utah Jazz in a decisive fashion would be huge for Golden State and help set the table for the rest of this stretch. Giving a lot of rest to his starters would be beneficial in advance of the game against the Heat on Wedneday; the Heat themselves will be on the back end of a back-to-back after their showdown against the Lakers tonight. Coming out strong against a Miami squad, which will be a bit tired itself, would be critical in bracing for what will be a very physical and challenging two game stretch against OKC and the Rockets.

The Warriors have the best record in the league and are playing as good as anyone. But rough stretches happen in the NBA. Could they go 1-3 in this upcoming stretch? Sure, you can never know what to expect.

However, with a roster that goes 10+ players deep, the Warriors should be ready to roll each and every night this week.

Next: Warriors play first games of four in five days against Jazz