Frontcourt Health Tops Golden State Warriors’ Wish List
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The Golden State Warriors have taken the NBA by storm thus far. After the Warriors’ impressive 114-109 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder last night, Golden State improved their league-leading record to 22-3, including a franchise-record 16-game winning streak that was snapped by the Memphis Grizzlies earlier this week.
The Warriors accomplished a majority of their shopping during the offseason. While it got off to rocky start with the firing of Mark Jackson, Golden State acted swiftly in snagging Steve Kerr to be their head coach. Then, the Warriors added Shaun Livingston to help bolster their backcourt depth. Finally, Golden State agreed to a contract extension for Klay Thompson in early November that will keep him in the Bay Area for the next four years.
It would seem that a team rolling along with the NBA’s best record and most exciting squad wouldn’t need anything around the holiday season. However, there is one item on their wish list that they desperately need: frontcourt health.
David Lee has missed practically the entire season due to a lingering hamstring issue. Recently, center Andrew Bogut has missed the previous five games due to a right knee injury and will be out for an extended period of time. Both of these players are critical to the Warriors on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor.
Bogut is the injury that raises the eyebrows for many fans due to his prolonged injury history. He anchors the Warriors’ defense in the middle and is the main rebounding cog for Golden State. Bogut leads the Warriors with 9.3 rebounds per game and is fifth in the NBA with 2.2 blocks per game. Also, Bogut has the best defensive rating on the Warriors with 91.3 rating, as opponents would score 91 points per 100 possessions when Bogut is on the floor.
His presence on the court was especially missed in the loss to the Grizzlies on Tuesday night. The frontcourt duo of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph combined for 41 points and 17 rebounds, and pounded the Warriors on the interior. With Bogut out for this period of time, Festus Ezeli will be relied upon to hold down the middle and it will be interesting to see how this affects the Warriors moving forward.
The Golden State Warriors don’t have many issues heading into the holidays. However, their frontcourt health will continue to be a situation to monitor and a primary focus will be to get both guys back as quickly as possible. Without these two, the Warriors won’t be able to maintain their hot start or standing as the top team in the league.
Patrick Leiva is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @pleiva4 and add him to your network on Google.
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