NBA Monthly Roundup: 3 October takeaways and 3 November predictions

November Prediction: The Warriors dig themselves a hole they can’t get out of

This sucks. Injuries always suck, but Steph Curry breaking his hand sucks a little more than most injuries. I’m writing this at 5:50 central standard time on October 31 and as of right now we don’t know what Steph’s timetable will be for recovery.

Per Warriors beat writer, Connor Letourneau, it sounds like if he needs surgery then it will be 4-6 weeks, but could be less than that if surgery isn’t necessary. Either way, I don’t see a way that the Warriors can survive this and salvage the season.

Even with Steph, a lot of people had already buried the Warriors after their poor start. I most people expected a significant drop off in their defense, but what we’ve seen from them the first few games has been some all-time terrible defense.

I was trying not to overreact to the first week and expected them to eventually figure it out. Maybe it’s just because I have a healthy fear of what the Warriors can do after watching them dominate the league for the last five years. Part of me is afraid that it’s a Beetlejuice type of situation and if we say they’re terrible too many times then Kevin Durant shows up on their roster the next day with a brand new Achilles tendon and wins eight championships to prove us wrong.

But after Steph’s injury, I just don’t see a path to the playoffs for them. I still think that they eventually start playing good basketball at some point this year, but it’s going to be too little too late. You hate to throw in the towel this early, but it might be time to focus more on your draft pick than the playoffs if you’re a Warriors fan.