The most alarming trend from Golden State Warriors season-opening loss
The biggest concern for the Golden State Warriors isn’t losing their season-opening game to the Phoenix Suns.
Heading into the season-opener against the Phoenix Suns, the hope was that the Golden State Warriors would look more like the playoff version of themselves than the regular season version from last season. After their opening night loss to the Suns, I’m not exactly sure how the Warriors should feel.
On one hand, they did have a few bright spots – particularly during the first and third quarters. Chris Paul showed some good things as a veteran playmaker off Stephen Curry and two of the Warriors’ young players, Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga continued to show promise.
However, there was one big concerning trend that, at the very least, should be followed heading into the next few games. The trend was that the Warriors shot 23 percent from 3-point range. While it may not be a consistent trend just yet, it’s something that could end up changing the entire math for the Warriors.
The Warriors can handle a bad shooting night and that might’ve just been what transpired on opening night, but if this inconsistent shooting continues to show its ugly head throughout the season, the Warriors are no longer the Warriors.
The Golden State Warriors changed the NBA with their elite 3-point shooting
Interestingly enough, this is what the end is likely going to look like for the Warriors. When Golden State does eventually fall off, you’d have to think that part of it is going to come with a drop in 3-point shooting.
That said, I suppose it’s a positive thing that the Warriors still were in the game despite their poor shooting. Perhaps that goes to show that the Warriors aren’t that far off from competing in the Western Conference, or that the Suns are extremely thin behind their star trio – who were also without Bradley Beal in the season opener.
In the end, it was one game. It was one bad shooting night. The combination of Chris Paul, Andrew Wiggins, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson went 7-34 shooting from deep. Again, it may have been just an aberration. However, it’s something to keep an eye on moving forward.
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The Golden State Warriors can still win a championship this season. I’d actually say that their performance in the season opener wasn’t that terrible. However, if the Warriors aren’t going to be one of the best shooting teams in the league, they may have some big problems on their hand.