In the Golden State Warriors first round against the Houston Rockets Stephen Curry was injured for majority of the series. But the Warriors seemed to ignore this tragedy as they still demolished the Houston Rockets in most of their games and won the series with a 4-1 record. Some people, mostly Rockets fans, were surprised that the Warriors could do so well considering they were playing without their best player, Stephen Curry. So the question is begging to be asked, how would the Golden State Warriors fair without Stephen Curry for an entire season.
(newslocker.com)
Golden State Warrior’s lineup without Stephen Curry
PG: Shaun Livingston/Ian Clark
Klay Thompson/Leandro Barbosa
Harrison Barnes/Andre Iguodala/Brandon Rush
Draymond Green/Marreese Speights/James McAdoo
Andrew Bogut/Festus Ezeli/Anderson Varejao
Without Curry on the team it would be natural to think that the Warriors offense would struggle at times, but it actually doesn’t at all. When the Warriors have had Curry, so far in the playoffs, they average 112.5 PPG but without Curry, which to them is a very unfamiliar feeling, they average 108.3 PPG. If the Warriors were familiar with playing without Curry they would perhaps score more without him. So with the offense almost being as good as it is with Curry how would the defense be? Well Curry is not a bad defender by any means, but Shaun Livingston’s size and knowledge have proven that he is a better defender, which means the defense my even be better without Curry.
Whether or not their offense and defense would be better or worse without Curry the Golden State Warriors have proven they would be a great team without their MVP. They beat the Houston Rockets, who have last year’s MVP runner up James Harden leading the team and 3x Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard holding down the paint.
Are the Warriors still a 50 win team without Steph Curry?
— Emanuel Godina (@NBALeadOffice) April 29, 2016
Emanuel Godina (CEO of NBALEAD) had a great tweet that put in perspective people’s views on just how good the Warriors would be without Curry.
When you think about how good the Warriors ball movement is regardless if Curry is on the court or not, and you look at how they destroyed the Houston Rockets, who finished with a 41-41 record, without Curry there is no question they would be a 50+ win team. The real question is if they are a Championship caliber team even without their MVP Stephen Curry. With Stephen Curry having back to back injuries the Warriors might have to chase the ring without Curry.
