NBA: The Warriors Without Curry: Next MVP Up

The Golden State Warriors currently have to manage without the injured Stephen Curry. Nevertheless, they rush from victory to victory – thanks to an outstanding Kevin Durant. In addition, the summer’s cadre optimizations will bring the desired success, which is frightening for the competition.

“Isn’t it beautiful,”a smiling Steve Kerr pondered a week ago after a casual away win at the Charlotte Hornets,”if you have to give up an MVP but someone else just takes over?”

Two days earlier – in the game at the Pelicans – one MVP (Stephen Curry) had injured his ankle and will be missing for another two weeks. But Kerr’s statement already suggests that everything is half as bad. After all, there is the other MVP (Kevin Durant) mentioned above, who is more accountable than ever before and ensures that his team is in great shape.

Seven victories in a row were last for the Dubs, six of them during a strenuous away trip, which included tasting curry. But that’s not all. Whether Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala or KD himself before: Kerr had to cope with some losses in the current season, but it didn’t bother him. More has to be done before the champion’s system will falter.

33 points, 10.7 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from the three-line and 3.3 blocks – these are the naked numbers of Durants from the last three games without curry. KD enjoys the time as a temporarily sole superstar, he has the ball in his hand more often – especially at the key -, he structures the game, uses his fellow players,”It’s fun when you can create the complete offense,”he admitted after the game against the Hornets in which he played a triple double.

Especially Durant’s high number of assists is remarkable, since the aspect of playmaking has long been regarded as the only weak point in his otherwise complete offense. In any case, scoring never falls by the wayside for him: he is once again scratching on a 50-40-90 season, which he has already achieved in 2012/13. Only seven players have ever succeeded in doing so. One of them is Dirk Nowitzki, another one, you can guess, Curry.

Kerr had recently said about Durant:”He gives us degrees that we didn’t get without him. In the finals 2016 we didn’t get any good throws in the end. Last season, however, we got every litter we wanted – thanks to him.”

That’s what it looks like at the moment, regardless of whether Curry is standing next to him on the field or not. The main thing is that the players around KD work, and this applies to each individual. The puzzle pieces, which the franchise has at least partially reassembled in the off-season 2017, fit together, down to the end of the rotation.

Take Jordan Bell, for example. Warriors had bought his draft rights from the Bulls for an amount of money. It is now clear that Bell is not only an extremely athletic player, but can also be extremely versatile.

In the meantime, he has been allowed to start three times every minute – and night after night, he’s a candidate to lead the top 10 plays with a highlight.”It looks like he’s never getting tired,”said Klay Thompson, praising the rookie.”He’s one of the most impressive athletes I’ve ever seen in the league.”

Other newcomers also feel very comfortable in the Bay Area. Omri Casspi seems to be fit at last, has already started five times. The Warriors appreciate his ability to read and penetrate spaces. Dangerous editors or off-ball players who are constantly sneaking away from the defender’s back are very valuable in the Golden States offensive system and are rewarded by players like Durant, Curry or Iguodala. Casspi sets fable quotas of 58 percent from the field and 61 percent from the three-line.

Although Nick Young is still a bit further away from such values (46 percent FG, 41 percent 3FG), he has also accepted his smaller role compared to his time with the Lakers. In the summer he worked hard on his physics, now he plays the appropriate defensive, is aggressively chasing around blocks and is the Glue Guy who was missing from the second unit of the team. Now he also falls out with a concussion, how long he has to pause is unclear.

Kerr is pleased with the successful integration of the new players and explains why it wasn’t so difficult:”When you bring three or four players into the team, it’s much easier than when you get six or seven players. This is especially true when they join a team full of continuity, as we are. Our old players help the new players. Everyone benefits and the team simply enjoys it if everyone contributes their share to the success.”

This is what Klay Thompson traditionally does, too, and his rather inconspicuous way of doing a career year, unlike KD, curry or green. If he increases his free-throw quota (88.2 percent), he could be the third player in the Warriors squad to move into the exclusive 50-40-90 club. That would be amazing. It currently stands at 20.7 points, 50.3 percent from the field and 45.9 percent from the three-line.

“When Klay stands in the corner and pulls the trigger, there’s no need to go to the rebound. You can walk right back,” says Durant,”He’s just a machine,” who has also worked on other facets of her offensive play. The Splash Brother still pulls 65.7 percent of his throws without even having made a dribbling. But in the games without curry he also runs a pick-and-roll or acts as a ball handler. This takes the weight of Durant or Iggy and Shaun Livingston, if Thompson is on the field with the second unit.

Thus, despite the adverse injury conditions, the defending champion rushes from victory to victory and sits on the back of the outstanding rockets. By the way, this is the first time that the Warriors have had to make do without curry for a longer time since they have grown into a championship team.

General Manager Bob Myers said to ESPN after the injury and diagnosis of the chef:”I’m very curious to see how we play without Steph. I was also curious when we had to make do without Durant last season,[What it looks like] I know now”. But without curry, he didn’t know that yet.

In the meantime he has gained more than just a first impression, and he is likely to like what he sees. This probably does not apply to his 29 colleagues from the other franchises.