On Sunday night against the Houston Rockets, the obvious storyline was the return of Stephen Curry. And rightfully so.
After an absence in excess of two months as a result of a lingering knee issue, Curry returned to the court, taking on a major offensive load even with his minutes restriction and ultimately keeping the game close until the final buzzer. It was a poignant reminder of what Curry is for this team and what he will be until he decides to hang up the jersey.
But it can't all be feel-good narratives at this point in the season. Golden State still has the Play-In Tournament to contend with, after all. Even though much of the league has already written them off, you can be sure the Warriors haven't convinced themselves of that reality. Not with Curry back, at least.
This means adjustments must continue to be made to the rotation, and players' roles and performances must continue to be evaluated until the very end of the season.
All this is to say that Kristaps Porzingis had a rough performance against Houston, and it's important we talk about it. His struggles against teams with bigger, more physical front-courts is something that could ultimately undermine the entire roster construction they're likely attempting to achieve.
Kristaps Porzingis is a capable rim-protector, but he struggles against size and strength
Over the past few seasons, Golden State has sought out a rim-protecting center to lift some of the pressure off of Draymond Green in the paint. The problem is, playing in the Warriors' offensive system, that player has always needed to be a capable perimeter shooter. 7'0" floor-spacers are few and far between in the NBA. Thankfully, Porzingis is one.
He's had some strong offensive performances since arriving in The Bay Area. Across 13 games, he's averaged 16.8 points, five rebounds, and 2.5 assists while knocking down 32.8% of his shots from beyond the arc. He's also shown some flashes on the defensive end, averaging 1.2 blocks in that span.
But in their past two matchups, against the Rockets and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Porzingis looked completely outmatched against the size and strength of players like Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, and Alperen Sengun. The Warriors ultimately weren't burnt by Mobley and Allen, but Sengun dropped 24 points in their tight loss.
Between the two games, Porzingis amassed 11 personal fouls. He fouled out early in the fourth quarter against Houston.
One of the biggest questions the Warriors have to answer moving forward is what Green's long-term role is. If he's back next season (and his player option makes that far from a guarantee), Golden State's ideal rotation would likely relegate him to the bench once they're at full health. They could instead lean on Porzingis as their defensive anchor to start games, surrounding Curry with shooters and capable perimeter defenders on the wings.
But if Porzingis, at this point in his career and conditioning, can't be trusted to match up against physical front-courts, that whole plan could come crashing down.
It's not an immediate crisis, but his past two performances have certainly been concerning.