When you look at this Golden State Warriors roster, it is clear to see who the go-to guy is. Stephen Curry carried this team on his shoulders, and led them to the best record in the NBA’s regular season and a first round sweep of the 8th seeded New Orleans Pelicans.
As if the team success wasn’t enough this year, Curry is the overwhelming favorite to take home the leagues Most Valuable Player award, which should be announced in the coming weeks. Curry averaged 23.8 points, 7.7 assists, and shot 44.3% from behind the arc this season.
Something else that may be hard to debate is that Klay Thompson is this team’s Number Two option offensively. This season Thompson broke the NBA record for most points in a single quarter, earned his first All-Star appearance, and helped Curry carry the load all season, averaging 21.7 points and shooting 43.9% from deep.
If this team hopes to make a deep playoff run, there is one thing that they may need to address, and that is a third scoring option. On Tuesday, the head consultant of the Warriors, and a member of their brain trust, Jerry West, spoke about that concern with Tom Tolbert on KNBR.
“You have to be a little bit more clever, you have to be able to go to other options, you have to find a third scorer, and I think that’s what this series [against the Pelicans] proved,” West told Tolbert, “I said before the playoffs started that this [next] series is going to be: Where can we find that third scorer? Can Harrison Barnes give it to us on some nights? Can Andre Iguodala give it to us other nights? That will be the key going in to our second round match-up.”
In the four games the Warriors have played thus far, Draymond Green has been the third option averaging 15.8 point per game. While that is a decent scoring output, it remains to be seen if Green can keep that up for the remainder of the postseason.
Whoever the third scorer for this team is, it is imperative that someone steps up consistently. There may be times down the stretch when the #SplashBrothers’ shots aren’t falling, and a safety valve will be needed to keep the ship afloat.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via NBAE/Getty/@deccandude)
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
