Dub Hub, Daily Warriors Links for 1/4/23: Warriors hold the best home record and the worst road record in the NBA

Good Morning Dub Nation,

After a disastrous 1-5 road trip, the Golden State Warriors have slowly climbed back up the Western Conference standings. They are now tied with the Phoenix Suns for the eighth seed in the West while trailing the first place Denver Nuggets by only 4.5 games.

The Warriors rise in the standings began with their eight-game homestand, in which, they are a perfect 5-0 so far. Evidently, playing at the Chase Center was exactly what the team needed in order to bounce back as they now hold the best home record in the league at 17-2.

It’s still difficult to comprehend why there is such a vast discrepancy between the Warriors’ home record versus their league-worst road record of 3-16. One key difference is their defense, as the team boasts a 106.2 defensive rating when playing at the Chase Center – second-best in the NBA. However, on the road, their defensive rating rises to 120.1 which is second-worst in the NBA.

Although the energy provided from the Chase Center crowd may have something to do with the Warriors picking up their intensity on that end, ESPN’s Kevin Pelton offered a more detailed look at the Warriors’ defensive home/road splits in his latest article.

Via ESPN:

At Chase Center, Warriors opponents are making 29% of their 3-point attempts — the league’s lowest mark by a wide margin. No other team sees opponents hit less than 32% of their 3s at home. On the road, that trend almost reverses. Golden State opponents make 41% of 3-point attempts in their own arenas — second only to the San Antonio Spurs.

Given the typical Warriors game features more than 36 3-point attempts, that’s a difference of about 13 points per game attributable solely to opponent shot-making beyond the arc. (Some of that difference can be made up in additional offensive rebound opportunities on the extra misses, but not much.) That’s approximately two-thirds of the massive 20-point gulf between Golden State’s point differential at home (plus-9.7 PPG) and away (minus-10.1).

There are some differences in the types of 3s Warriors opponents shoot. Per Second Spectrum tracking on NBA Advanced Stats, a slightly higher share of their 3-point attempts in road games are of the higher-percentage catch-and-shoot variety (72% come off zero dribbles, compared with 69% at home). Second Spectrum data also indicates Golden State is contesting a larger percentage of 3s faced at home (91%) than on the road (89%).

The Warriors have three more games left in this homestand. After that, they get another long, five-game road trip which will give them an opportunity to show whether or not their road concerns are finally behind them.

Here are the rest of today’s stories:

In case you missed it from Golden State of Mind:

• January 3 mailbag
• Short-handed Warriors to remain short-handed
• Andre Iguodala is starting to scrimmage
• Klay Thompson and Kevon Looney start 2023 off with a bang
• Klay Thompson deserves more of everyone’s faith

Other Warriors News:

• Warriors’ winning streak takes sting out of Jordan Poole’s lapses (NBC Sports Bay Area)
• Warriors in thick of tight Western Conference amid five-game win streak (NBC Sports Bay Area)
• Thompson: Warriors’ fifth straight win is the moment Kevon Looney deserved (The Athletic)
• Biggest feat by Warriors’ Draymond Green? Coming back from the unfathomable (San Francisco Chronicle)
• It’s too bad the Golden State Warriors can’t play all their games at home (ESPN)

NBA News:

• Zion Williamson out at least 3 weeks with hamstring strain (ESPN)
• The Hoop Collective: Phoenix Suns are stuck in a murky trade situation as the deadline nears (ESPN)
• Giannis Antetokounmpo scores career-high 55 points in win over Wizards (The Athletic)
• Scoot Henderson: ‘I feel like I can damn near do it all at this point’ (Hoops Hype)
• 2023 NBA Predictions for the Finals, Trade Demands, Wembanyama, and More (The Ringer)