The Golden State Warriors' strong start to the season has been predicated on their enormous depth, with Steve Kerr often going to a unique 12-man rotation that's allowed a number of players to provide short and sharp impact off the bench.
Yet that strength has quickly shifted into a slight concern over recent games. The week has consisted of back-to-back wins over the Atlanta Hawks and New Orleans Pelicans, but they were bookended by losses to the L.A. Clippers and most recently the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.
The Warriors' bench has been a concern over the past four games
Golden State led by 17 late in the third-quarter in San Antonio, only to be outscored 40-13 across the remainder of the game. In a seven-minute period with Stephen Curry on the bench in the second-half, the Warriors saw a 17-point lead dwindle to only four as the Spurs built a wave of momentum that couldn't be resisted.
It's not the first time the Golden State bench has struggled over the past week. While it's not overly surprising for a team to be relying on their best players, the Warriors have built a roster where their bench is supposed to be a positive point-of-difference.
In recent games the Warriors have reverted to leaning heavily on Curry and fellow veterans Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins. Golden State were +33 in Green's 116 minutes over the last four games, +30 in Curry's 128 minutes, and +26 in Wiggins' 120 minutes.
On the other end of the spectrum it isn't pretty reading for a trio of bench players. During the same period the Warriors are -13 in Kyle Anderson's 45 minutes, -16 in Brandin Podziemski's 16 minutes, and -19 in Moses Moody's 76 minutes.
The bench has begun to struggle offensively, particularly on Saturday in the absence of Jonathan Kuminga due to illness. Buddy Hield's shooting has understandably regressed, so too has Moody's, and Podziemski is a non-scoring factor on top of the likes of Anderson, Kevon Looney and Gary Payton II.
The Warriors need to quickly address this minor trend before it becomes a bigger issue and contributes to more losses. Ideally that comes by the bench players -- especially Hield, Kuminga, Podziemski and Moody -- lifting their form, otherwise Steve Kerr may need to go to a more radical approach of ensuring one of Curry or Wiggins are on the floor at all times.
Golden State will be hoping to respond from Saturday's loss when they host the Brooklyn Nets at Chase Center on Monday night.