The over-reliance on Stephen Curry has been a major issue for the Golden State Warriors in recent years, particularly with the 2x MVP in year 17 and nearing 38-years-old.
While Curry is and always will be the central figure in the Warrior system, the bench is starting to give the veteran superstar the opportunity to rest without the concern of the team getting significantly outscored when he's not on the floor.
Warriors are gifting Stephen Curry the chance to rest comfortably
The acquisition of Jimmy Butler last February certainly changed the complexion of the non-Curry minutes, but now Golden State also crucially have D'eAnthony Melton and Al Horford up and running after injury impacted starts to the season.
Nothing illustrated Golden State's growing strength in the non-Curry minutes more like the third-quarter of their blowout victory over the Sacramento Kings at Chase Center on Friday night. While a 34-point win looked comfortable on paper, it was anything but through nearly three quarters.
When Curry subbed out for Butler with three minutes remaining in the period, the game was awkwardly tied at 84 as the Warriors failed to create separation. Fortunately, Butler, Melton, Horford and company did just that rather quickly, ending the quarter on a 13-0 run as the hosts took complete control of the game.
A 66-38 bench scoring differential helped Golden State elevate from 19th in bench net rating up to 15th. They're now fifth in bench net rating over the past 10 games, with that essentially coinciding with Horford's return from injury against the Dallas Mavericks on Christmas Day.
While these numbers may be assisted by an easier part of the schedule right now, the presence of Horford, Melton, Brandin Podziemski and even impressive youngster Will Richard, gives the Warriors the makings of a stronger bench than what they've shown over the season as a whole.
If this recent bench spike is for real, it would be a huge boost in Golden State being able to manage Curry and would come right at the last possible moment as the soon-to-be 12x All-Star quite sensationally remains one of the best players in the league.
Golden State may now just need to give Curry more talent next to him in the starting lineup, subsequently aiding in a playoff push where the rotation inevitably becomes shorter and high-end talent becomes all the more important.
Fortunately, Golden State have an easy avenue to making that happen given Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield -- who are making nearly $32 million combined -- aren't even part of the rotation right now.