The Golden State Warriors have been on fire as of late. They’re 8-2 over their past ten games. There is only one team that’s even equal to that, and it’s the Utah Jazz, the current third-place team in the Western Conference.
However, it’s been the team’s depth that’s propelled their success.
The Golden State Warriors have had several players out over the past week. Apparently, Lakers’ star forward LeBron James didn’t know that.
While Stephen Curry has had a hand in everything they’ve done, as has Draymond Green, it’s been players like Otto Porter Jr. and Gary Payton II that have stepped up in a big way as the Dubs have been without several key rotational players.
Don’t tell superstar Lakers forward LeBron James that as he was quoted listing the Dubs as one of the teams which have been successful largely because of their health.
"“‘Nobody’s going to feel sorry for you, no one’s going to feel sorry for your record, nobody’s going to feel sorry for guys out because everybody, besides I think Golden State and Phoenix, everybody has guys out,’ James told reporters after the Lakers’ Christmas Day loss to the Brooklyn Nets,” Alex Didion of Yahoo! Sports wrote."
Sure, Curry and Green haven’t missed time, although Green will miss at least the next few games as he entered health and safety protocols yesterday. However, the Warriors’ other two key players have been out the last few games.
Jordan Poole, the team’s third-leading scorer, has missed the past five games. Andrew Wiggins, who has been a two-way stud for the Warriors and their second-leading scorer, has missed the last four for the Warriors.
Golden State has filled the role of those two nicely with Porter Jr. and Payton II.
On top of that, Andre Iguodala, who has been nursing a knee injury, has missed time over the past few weeks as well. It hasn’t necessarily been an easy ride for the Warriors. To be honest, even the Suns have missed star guard Devin Booker for a handful of games.
The difference is that the Warriors are just built differently, and the quintessential free agents were added to fit their culture.
Coming into his time with Golden State, Porter Jr. shot over 40% from three-point range. It was easy to see why he fit with the team, and when he was called upon, it wasn’t shocking that he managed to thrive.
The same can be said of Damion Lee and Payton II. With that in mind, most teams aren’t as banged up as the Lakers, but at the same time, even with Anthony Davis and James, their team was struggling.
It all started when they traded key role players for Russell Westbrook. No one can be blamed for the lack of success in Los Angeles more than their management team and those that had an impact on bringing the roster today.