Chasing a championship is never easy. The Golden State Warriors will need someone on the bench to step up down the stretch of the season.
It seems like just yesterday that the Golden State Warriors had one of the best second units in the entire league. This season the Dubs have seen a huge drop off in bench production and it is going to cost the team if something doesn’t change.
In the 2015-16 season, the Warriors bench scored an average of 33.8 points per game. Led by consistent veterans such as Leandro Barbosa, Shaun Livingston, Andre Iguodala and Marreese Speights, the Dubs had a strong second unit.
In recent years, the Warriors have lost some of these veterans. The only two that remain are Livingston and Iguodala who are both clearly starting to feel the wear and tear of their old age. As a result, Golden State ranks second last in the league in terms of bench production at just 28.7 points per game.
This lack of scoring on the bench is putting a heavy burden on the starting lineup. The Dubs have a slim rotation and aren’t capable of giving their stars much rest without risking a scoring drought due to the poor bench play.
Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins might be some of the best offensive players in the league, but they can’t play every minute of the game. Cousins is still tending to his Achilles injury while the other three are feeling the exhaustion of multiple trips to the NBA Finals.
The Dubs are obviously the favorites to with the championship this season, but the bench will have to get better if the Warriors want to accomplish their goals. Someone will need to step up and score at a consistent rate for this team or they will struggle in the postseason.