The Golden State Warriors won their first game of the season on Monday night against the Denver Nuggets, rebounding from a pair of sub-par performances and matching a potential championship contender step-for-step until the game was virtually over in the fourth quarter.
Sure, the Nuggets didn't play up to their potential. But that's not what's significant about this game.
Golden State found a way to win, coming off of a back-to-back, with Stephen Curry playing just 26 minutes on the night. He took just eight field goal attempts, and they were able to lay much of the offensive load upon their young contributors in Yaxel Lendeborg and Brandin Podziemski.
That's not going to happen every night—especially against a team like the Nuggets. But if the Warriors can find enough talent and enough scoring across their roster to be able to consistently win games without Curry taking the team onto his shoulders over the course of the regular season—especially in anticipation of Jimmy Butler's return—they might just have enough juice to keep Curry alive for one more postseason run.
At this point, that's the most we could ask for.
The Warriors need to replicate their performance against the Nuggets as often as possible this season
The Warriors are still 1-3, so let's not get too excited yet. They utterly failed to stop the Los Angeles Lakers from exerting their will in the paint, and their offense fell apart against the Memphis Grizzlies to allow that roster to climb their way back into the game in the fourth quarter. The matchup with the Phoenix Suns can be cast to the side for now purely by virtue of the fact that neither Curry nor Draymond Green were available for that matchup.
But that win against Denver is about as big as you could expect at this point in the season. The Warriors defense found a way to consistently blitz Jamal Murray on his actions near the top of the key, largely taking away the Nuggets' primary offensive mechanism over the course of the night. They also found a way to limit Nikola Jokic in the paint even without a traditional center in the rotation. It was an inspiring performance for Frank Vogel's defense, and the Warriors deserve their credit on that end of the court.
What was more impressive, though, was the offensive consistency with which the Warriors operated.
Lendeborg is starting to look like a real second option just four games into his NBA career. He posted 31 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists against Denver while knocking down nine of his 19 attempts from the field. He looked confident taking the ball into his hands and matching up near the basket against Jokic and Aaron Gordon, but he also looked more than capable of running the bench unit's offense through actions and various pick-and-roll maneuvers. If that's a trend that sticks, that's a massive development for the complexion of the Warriors' starting five.
Podziemski's return was also huge for this team. Of course he has his inconsistencies, and he didn't have the best shot selection over the course of the game—but he's consistently active on the offensive end, finding a way to make an impact and serving as an additional self-creator for this team.
What went under-the-radar, as well, was the performance of the bench. The only player who truly had a bad shooting night was De'Anthony Melton, and the bench as a whole shot 59% from beyond the arc. That, combined with the efforts of Lendeborg with the second unit, was enough to keep the team afloat while Curry was off the court.
Curry has looked absolutely gassed going into postseason play for the Warriors in each of the past two seasons—in large part because Golden State has had no other choice but to play him extensively down the stretch of the season in order to stay afloat. Having a true backup point guard is the easy answer there.
But if this team can continue to develop its chemistry while Curry is off the court, leaning on Lendeborg and eventually Butler as true options in that capacity, they can afford to rest him more over the course of the season—even in games that he starts. If the Warriors can lean into that strength through trades or free-agent signings over the next year or so, that is finally some sort of a recipe for success in the latter years of Curry's career.
At this point, an utterly successful regular season would be to finish with the seventh or eighth seed and have Curry fully healthy entering the Play-In Torunament.
Not every night will look like this Nuggets matchup, obviously, but finding a way to take the burden off Curry should be the Warriors' main aim at this point, regardless of who's on the team. There were numerous encouraging signs on that front, and that alone is more significant than just a singular victory for Golden State.
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