The Golden State Warriors have a 58-6 record and they are the most talented team in the league. The team has two great shooters in Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Draymond Green is one of the most versatile power forwards in the game. The NBA Finals MVP, Andre Iguodala, is coming off the bench. But even with all of their depth and talent, the Warriors aren’t unbeatable.
The Warriors have lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Lakers. Three of those teams aren’t expected to make the playoffs and the other three teams aren’t even amongst the elite of their respective conferences. The loss to the Lakers could be considered one of the greatest regular season upsets in NBA history.
It’s not just the losses that should trouble the team. The Warriors are also averaging 15 turnovers per game and that is 25th in the league. Amidst all of the “magic” passes that everyone praises Curry for, there are a lot of turnovers as well. The Warriors move the ball as well as any team in the league, but they can sometimes make an extra pass that is unnecessary.
The fact that the Warriors are winning so many games and are on a historic pace makes their “weakness” even less noticeable to them. Since they beat every good team, their faults against lesser teams and the turnovers that still exist against good teams are often forgotten. But in a seven-game series, opponents will have the chance to hone in on any weakness.
The Warriors are still the best team in the league by far. But now that it isn’t the early part of the NBA season, it’s time for the Warriors to focus and apply consistent effort to every game. If the Warriors don’t focus as much as they should, the team could end up underachieving in the playoffs and make it appear that last season was a fluke.
