Warriors week 23 review/week 24 preview

It’s not the greatest time in the world to be a fan of the Golden State Warriors, and we’re running out of days for that to change. The Dubs have just seven games left, and are beginning the penultimate week of the regular season.

That’s seven games and two weeks to fix the many things that are ailing them, from effort, to scheme, to rotations, to, most critically, injuries.

Can they do it? Stay tuned to find out. And in anticipation, let’s review the week that was and look forward to the week that will be.

Where they stand

Record: 48-27
Standing: 3rd seed in the West (4 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies, 2 games ahead of the Dallas Mavericks)
Offensive rating: 14th (113.0)
Defensive rating: 3rd (107.6)
Net rating: 5th (+5.3)

Team ratings are garbage-time adjusted, courtesy of Cleaning The Glass.

Weekly recap

Tuesday: Lost to the Orlando Magic 94-90
Wednesday: Beat the Miami Heat 118-104
Friday: Lost to the Atlanta Hawks 121-110
Sunday: Lost to the Washington Wizards 123-115

The Warriors played two bad teams, one mediocre team, and one very good team last week. They played all of their healthy players against the bad teams and the mediocre team, and rested Klay Thompson and Draymond Green against the very good team.

That was the only game they won last week.

Basketball does not make any sense.

Performance of the week

Klay Thompson vs. the Hawks: 37 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 14-for-26 shooting, 9-for-16 threes.

It sure was wonderful to see vintage Klay back, even if it came in a losing effort. There’s nothing like when he starts heating up and raining in shots from all over the court.

There’s still a lot of inconsistency, but his shot selection is rounding into form, and Thompson looks like he might be ready to be a difference maker in the playoffs.

Honorable mention goes to...

Jordan Poole vs. the Heat: 30 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists, 10-for-18 shooting, 7-for-13 threes, 3-for-3 free throws.

The JP coming out party continues, as he was the best player on the court for either team during the Dubs’ shocking upset over the Heat. He’s getting easy looks, making hard looks, playing with flair and aggression, and setting teammates up.

A star is born.

Highlight of the week

On that note, this sequence by Poole was ridiculous.

This week’s schedule

Monday: @ the Memphis Grizzlies (52-23), 5:00 p.m. PT
Wednesday: vs. the Phoenix Suns 61-14), 7:00 p.m. PT
Saturday: vs. the Utah Jazz (45-30), 5:30 p.m. PT
Sunday: @ the Sacramento Kings (27-48), 6:00 p.m. PT

The road trip concludes tonight, but life doesn’t necessarily get easier. The Dubs play three of the top five seeds in the West this week, which is ... not fun.

Easiest game of the week

Sunday @ the Kings.

Yes it’s on the road, and yes it’s on the back end of a back-to-back which means the Warriors might rest Klay Thompson and/or Draymond Green. But it’s still the Kings, and they’re still bad, and no one else on the docket is.

Hardest game of the week

Wednesday vs. the Suns.

Phoenix is still the best team in the NBA, and now Chris Paul is back. There is nothing about this game that is easy, but it does present an opportunity for the Warriors to gain some confidence.

Prediction time!

In last week’s review/preview, only 19% of voters thought the Warriors would go 1-3. The most common prediction was 2-2, with 43% of voters thinking the Dubs’ week would be split.

Let’s try again.