Golden State Warriors: Two reassuring trends for the future

A 50-point eruption from Stephen Curry helped the Golden State Warriors notch their ninth win of the young NBA season last night. The Dubs are running away with the best record in the league and it feels safe to say this squad is going to be a force moving forward.

Golden State places first in Defensive Rating and Net Rating while sporting the fifth-best Offensive Rating. All indicators point towards them being the best team in the league but this could change soon with a tougher schedule ahead of them.

According to Power Ranking Guru, the Dubs have had the easiest schedule in the NBA thus far. By their same metric, Golden State has the ninth toughest schedule ahead of them. Tankathon has a similar ranking with the Dubs facing the seventh hardest schedule moving forward.

It is hard to argue against the Warriors having an easy schedule through 10 games. They’ve faced only a few teams above .500, after all.

However, it is also hard to argue that the Dubs have not looked impressive. This team took care of business with multiple 20 point victories and knocked down the dominos placed in front of them.

The Golden State Warriors have taken care of business so far but this season is about to get tougher. Here are two reassuring trends to keep them afloat.

The next few games will be a challenge for the Dubs. They face a scrappy young Minnesota team tomorrow before heading to Chicago to face Lonzo Ball and a resurging Bulls’ squad. Then, they prepare for a rematch with LaMelo Ball in Charlotte. After all of this, they take on a streaking Cavaliers squad. Oh, and they have to play Kevin Durant during this road stretch, as well.

With so many intense games on the horizon, it is good the Warriors have two players trending upwards.

Jordan Poole’s slump is over

Firstly, Jordan Poole has been jolted out of his shooting slump by rattling off four quality games. He has scored 25+ in three of his last four outings and is averaging 24.5 points on 51.5 percent shooting from the field during this stretch. A stark contrast to the 14.0 points and 40.7 percent clip he was shooting at before.

Poole’s NBA journey has been a bumpy one. Fans hope this marks the beginning of a smoother ride moving forward. The young guard has been learning on the fly and has taken every hit to the chin in his pursuit of being a consistent contributor for the Dubs.

We still need to see Poole slow down a bit. As Draymond Green said, getting to the free-throw line and taking some pressure off of his own back will help. For now, let’s just be glad Poole has seemed to find his rhythm again.

Gary Payton II is legit

The Warriors turned a lot of heads when they chose to give their final roster spot to a springy, unproven guard in Gary Payton II rather than the respected vet Avery Bradley. But, Steve Kerr and the Dubs wanted to maintain a sense of energy and cohesion with this roster. The competitive fire Payton has brought to the floor has been unmatched.

Payton is an electric athlete. His routine attacks on the basket have kept the defense on its heels while he has been just good enough as a shooter and passer to keep the Dubs’ offense flowing seamlessly.

On the defensive end, however, is where Payton has made himself a frequent member of the rotation. He has lightning-quick hands and has no problem striking down ball-handlers or darting into the passing lane for steals.

For comparison, here is how Payton and Bradley have faired this season. Out of fairness to GP2, I will not include the games in which he played fewer than 10 seconds.

Per game statistics (shooting splits)

• Payton: 14.1 minutes, 7.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.6 steals, 1.3 assists (71/56/100)
• Bradley: 20.8 minutes, 5.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, 0.7 assists 0.5 steals (43/32/–)

Payton is still just a defensive specialist who has excelled in other areas to start the season. Yet, he has become an important member of the team and will undoubtedly be useful as the Warriors embark on their next set of games.