Grading the Golden State Warriors 2017-18 Regular Season
By Andrew Ites
The Golden State Warriors 2017-18 regular season was an absolute roller coaster ride that took an enormous dip at the end.
The Warriors finished the regular season with 58 wins and 24 losses, which was the second-best record in the Western Conference and the third-best record in the NBA.
They finished the year third in the NBA in both offensive rating and net rating, but fell to 11th in the league in defensive rating.
Golden State was 51-14 and were tied with the Rockets for the number one seed in the West after a thrilling win over the Spurs at home on March 8th. However, Steph Curry rolled his ankle during the game and would miss 16 of the Warriors’ last 17 games after spraining his knee against the Hawks.
The Warriors went 7-10 over that stretch as they struggled with injuries to their other All-Stars, were unable to totally replace Curry’s production, and looked disinterested in some of the final games of the regular season.
More from Blue Man Hoop
- 3x champion may come to regret forgoing Golden State Warriors reunion
- Golden State Warriors: History shows USA may need Stephen Curry for more than the Olympics
- 7 players Golden State Warriors might replace Klay Thompson with by the trade deadline
- Golden State Warriors villain pours on more pain to end USA’s World Cup
- Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry continues philanthropic efforts off the court
They will finish the year either seven or eight games back of the Rockets after ending each of the past three seasons with the best record in the entire NBA.
Having home court advantage throughout the playoffs would’ve been nice, but the Warriors never took the regular season very seriously. They were focused on staying healthy for their run to a fourth straight NBA Finals, but bad injury luck and sleepwalking through a few games kept them from accomplishing that goal.
Golden State has plenty of acceptable excuses for the regular season not going so well, but that doesn’t negate the fact that they will head into the postseason hobbled and would have to play a Game 7 in Houston during a potential Western Conference Finals matchup.
Next: Should We be Worried About the Long Term Health of Steph Curry?
Overall, I’d give the Warriors a C for their performance during the regular season.