Why could a injured Stephen Curry and Draymond Green be good for the Warriors?
Injuries for a team is never good, but for the Warriors, an injured Draymond Green and Stephen Curry may be good. Backup point guard Shaun Livingston and center ZaZa Pachulia are also out due to injury. Curry injured his ankle, Green and Pachulia injured their shoulders and Livingston injured his knee.
It’s still the first half of the season and Golden State still has two stars in Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant in their lineup–similar to what most teams have in the NBA, so the Warriors shouldn’t be panicking right now.
With that being said, Golden State has a new team from last year. The Warriors didn’t make any dramatic changes this offseason but they added a couple of players to their roster. Players like rookie forward, Jordan Bell, out of the University of Oregon and former Lakers shooting guard Nick Young.
These players are still getting used to the Warriors’ style of play. So with Curry and Green being out, this gives them a chance to get more playing time while it’s still early in the season. This also gives more playing time to young guard Patrick McCaw and veteran center JaVale McGee. When the playoffs and Finals come around, it’s going to be important for all the new players and role players to know what they’re doing out on the floor. This is a good time to gain some experience while Curry and Green are out because the playoffs will be a very interesting this year (I don’t see it being a cakewalk to the Finals).
It’s obvious Curry and Green are the leaders of the Warriors.
But now this gives Durant and Thompson a chance to be the leaders on the court with Green and Curry out. That can also help Golden State moving forward. Also, they’ll be able to get more shots up being that they’re shooters.
The Warriors are going to win games but it’s going to be important to see how they win games. Will they look fine without their two stars or look dependent.
Christmas day will be a good test for them. LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have been playing good basketball. It’ll be interesting to see how the Warriors play against the Cavs on Christmas day without Curry and Green. All in all, I think injuries could be good for Golden State moving forward.
