Last season, without Durant and without Thompson, Curry made it to the playoffs for the Warriors. Once again, he played a phenomenal performance, averaging 32.0 points, 5.5 boards, 5.8 assists per game in a single season, 48.2% shooting rate + 42.1% three-point shooting, and forced the Warriors to squeeze into the top eight in the West at the end of the season.
However, due to the impact of the playoffs, the Warriors still did not get a playoff spot after losing to the Lakers and Grizzlies consecutively. That is to say, without Durant and Thompson, even curry's "super god" is difficult to lead the Warriors into the playoffs.
21-22 season: The start of the game first to catch the Lakers, and then beat the Clippers, the Warriors began a "face-punching" journey
Due to the Warriors' poor record in the past two years (20 years at the bottom of the West, 21 years Curry led the team but could not play in the playoffs), so after the start of the new season, the Warriors who did not change much in the main lineup were not optimistic about the outside world. Conversely, after two years of slump, expectations of them have been reduced to a freezing point — arguing that the Warriors can only maintain their seventh and eighth records in the West until Thompson returns.
But I didn't expect the Warriors to "punch the face" so quickly, when the outside world decided that they would suffer two consecutive defeats at the beginning of the new season, they have defeated last season's favorite teams - Lakers, Clippers, ushered in a 2-game winning streak.
After that, the Warriors were like opening Pandora's Box, and they couldn't help it. They have since beaten the Nets, Philadelphia, the Suns and other promising championship teams, occupying the top spot in the league record for a long time...
The Warriors unexpectedly played the league's first record in the new season, although it has a lot to do with Curry (averaging 27.9 points, 5.3 boards, 5.9 assists per game, 43.5% shooting percentage). But compared with last season's "super god", in fact, the new season Curry has converged a lot, but the Warriors' current record and last season's record in the same period are not the same.
The reason why such a completely different record will be, in fact, in addition to the performance of Curry's superstar, is because compared with last season, the warriors in the new season have stepped forward to share the burden for Curry.
First Poole, then Wiggins, Damien Lee, Payton Jr. and others, they made up for the shortcomings of physical talent with positive running, and made up for the shortcomings of defense with a desperate defensive attitude. It is precisely because they have erupted to varying degrees that this has comprehensively enhanced the strength and resilience of the Warriors, and finally won the first record in the league.
Punch in the face again: Even in the absence of Wiggins and Poole, the Warriors did not lose the league's number one throne
After the recent absences of Wiggins, Poole, Damien Lee, Iguodala and others, it is widely believed that this Warriors will have a difficult time maintaining the first record in the West. Especially in the Christmas war against the sun, it is more likely to be further widened by the sun - after all, paul, Booker and Ayton can play at the same time on the sun side. The Warriors are missing Wiggins and Poole, two big generals, and the lineup is quite tight.
In the recent Warriors vs. Suns game, Curry, as the super core of the team, blasted down 33 points, 4 boards and 6 assists in a single game, successfully helping the Warriors and the Suns bite the score. Although Curry's "single core" is strong, it cannot harvest the game, until there are 2 minutes and 47 seconds left in the game, the Warriors only lead the Suns by two points at 109-107, and there is still a risk of being reversed.
And at this time, Curry was defended by the Suns' "BOX-1" and it was difficult to harvest the game on his own. The Suns, who thought they had three giants, could complete the turnaround at this time, who knew that Porter Jr. stood up at this time - very confidently hit 2 shots + a three-pointer, and while Curry was restrained, he single-handedly scored seven consecutive points to kill the game...
Judging from the sun vs warriors game, in fact, until the last moment, it is still the suns with a more complete lineup that has a more winning side. If it weren't for Porter's brilliant personal performance in the final quarter, the Warriors might not have won the Suns at all. And Porter also relied on the performance of the last quarter to take away the game, leaving a deep impression on the media and fans.
From starter to substitute! Why would Porter rather give up a mid-class contract and join the Warriors with a base salary?
In the 2013 draft, Porter was plucked by the Wizards with a height of 2.03 meters and an arm span of 2.17 meters. Although Porter did not play an All-Star performance in the following years, his consecutive 10+5+2 personal performances allowed him to sit in the team's starting position.
Unfortunately, for nearly three seasons, Porter has been affected by injuries and has always played a personal performance that returns to his peak. But even so, there are still teams that offer him a mid-class contract in the offseason this year, but Porter finally chose the base salary ($2.39 million in 1 year) and chose to join the Warriors...
After all, choosing to accept the Warriors' base salary contract, coupled with the Warriors' (Green, Wiggins, Cuminga, Bjelica, Iguodala) forward lineup, Porter is destined to become a substitute player. But he still chose the warrior, why is this?
First, having already earned enough big contracts, Porter is eager to prove himself in the Warriors. In the past few years, Porter has played a good personal performance + a certain talent, which has allowed him to get a big contract of 106 million US dollars for 4 years. Now, after being plagued by injuries and declining form, what he cares most about is not the size of the contract, but whether he can play a good personal performance again.
After all, as long as you can have a good personal performance on the field, what big contract can't get it? If you choose the middle class of other teams and do not have much room to play, it is possible that after the end of next year's contract, Porter will face the dilemma of not having the ball to play.
Second, the Warriors' tactical system and concept are more suitable for Porter. Porter is different from the alphabet brother, Green and other fronts, he has a certain talent, but also has an excellent shooting feel, but in recent years, injuries, but his physical talent and single defense ability, there has been a big decline, which may make him when joining other teams, play or not should be the personal performance...
But in the Warriors, it is different, "Curry has gravity" + Kerr's coaching philosophy, which can allow him to often get the opportunity to take an easy shot. As Porter said a while ago: "I've never had as many empty three-point opportunities as I have now. ”
In summary, it is precisely because Porter has won a big contract, and now his personal status has declined; and the Warriors' tactics and ideas are more suitable for his current play, which can help him find his state as quickly as possible; so he will give up the middle-class contracts of other teams and choose the base salary to join the Warriors.