Before the game against the Bulls, the Warriors were in a very bad position, with only 1 win and 4 losses in the last 5 games, including a crushing defeat to the powerful Lone Rangers and Bucks. The Warriors have not suffered three consecutive defeats so far this season, but their opponents in this campaign are the Bulls, who are in hot form this season and are currently in the first place in the East, and Thompson and Green will be absent from the game, plus they are back-to-back in this game, so the Warriors are not given much hope by the outside world in this game.
But the result was ultimately a big surprise, in the first quarter of the game, the Bulls' core Lavine withdrew from the game early due to a left knee injury, while the Warriors took advantage of the chase and had already taken a 9-point lead in the first quarter. By the second quarter, the Warriors blossomed more, playing 41-19 in the single quarter and heading into the second half with a huge 31-point lead. After the battle, the Warriors' firepower remained unabated, and they had led by 40 points at the end of the third quarter, and the entire fourth quarter of the game had been reduced to garbage time. In the end, the Warriors beat their opponents 138:96 in a three-player 20+ situation.
On the one hand, the Bulls are one of the most promising teams to attack the championship this season, and even if Lavin is injured, they still have strong strength under DeRozan's leadership. On the other hand, the Warriors were in terrible shape before this game, winning only the Cavaliers in 5 games, and in the last game they lost to the Bucks, the Warriors trailed by 39 points at halftime, setting the record for the largest half-court trail in team history since 1963, and after the last game, the Warriors' second place in the West was also in jeopardy.
In this game, the Warriors completed the salted fish turnover, from a fiasco to the Bucks to a full 42 points to beat the Bulls, the first in the East, which made many fans focus on Thompson, who was on this rotation. It is no wonder that fans will have such a pattern, after all, since Thompson's comeback, the Warriors' state is not ideal, only achieved a record of 1 win and 2 losses, the team's average score in these three games is only 96 points per game, and after his absence in this game, the Warriors have played a smooth attack, and the 138 points cut by the whole game have been the highest scores of the team so far this season.
Judging from the comparison between Thompson's previous three games and the games he missed in this game, it can indeed be seen that Thompson's comeback has indeed had a certain impact on the Warriors' offense. First, after Thompson's comeback, the Warriors as a whole were clearly deliberately giving him chances and the ball to allow him to integrate into the game faster. Thompson obviously failed to quickly find his former form, and in these three games his hand was actually not good, averaging 14 points per game while shooting only 35.7% from the field and shooting only 35% from three-point range, which led to the stagnation of the team's offense in many cases.
Secondly, in the three games after Thompson's return, he has undoubtedly become the team's starter, and the Warriors' starting number two position before this season is the very hot Pooler, which also makes the latter very uncomfortable. In the game before Thompson's return, this season's Poole assumed the role of the team's second offensive hand, averaging about 17 points per game while shooting a career-high 43.9% from the field, and scoring 30+ points in many games.
But after Thompson's comeback, Poole, who was reduced to a substitute, seemed to have lost himself. In the game against the Cavaliers, Poole scored a decent 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting, and in the game against the Grizzlies, Poole scored only 12 points on 3-of-11 shooting, and against the Bucks, Poole scored only 9 points on 2-of-7 shooting. But in Thompson's absence in this game, Poole, who returned to the starting lineup, scored the team's second-highest 22 points. Whether it is from the data or from the performance on the field, Poole has been greatly affected by Thompson's comeback.
But these comparisons don't directly suggest that Thompson's comeback is the culprit behind the Warriors' recent poor form, which is too unfair to the core of a team that has missed more than two seasons. It should be said that there are many reasons for the decline in the Warriors' performance. On the one hand, Curry's slump in recent games has had a direct impact on the team's offense, and even in this game of big wins, Curry has only scored 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting. According to statistics, Curry has now shot less than 50% of the shots in 9 consecutive games, setting a career record.
This has caused the Warriors to lose the most core offensive point on the offensive end, in these 9 games, the Warriors have not broken the hundred in 5 games, which is unacceptable for them who can average 110 points per game this season, and the team has only achieved a record of 4 wins and 5 losses in these 9 games. On the other hand, the Decline in the Warriors' performance on the defensive end is also very serious, and the most important reason is the injury of Green, the core point of the team's defense. Counting The Symbolic Appearance of Green in Thompson's Comeback, he has missed five games with a calf injury.
In these 5 games, the Warriors' decline on the defensive end is obvious to all, whether it is on the outside defense or on the inside, the Warriors have lost the power they have shown on the defensive end this season. To know that the reason why the Warriors have been able to rank at the top of the league with a not-so-good lineup record this season is the improvement of the team's defense. So far this season, the Warriors' defensive efficiency is 102.3, which is the number one in the league. But now, without Green, the Warriors are struggling defensively.
Therefore, in the case of both offensive and defensive performance declining, the Warriors' poor record is understandable. However, this is not absolutely related to Thompson's return, and the reason why this game can win the first place in the East in his absence, in addition to Lavin's injury to make the team panic, the recovery of the Warriors' state is also a very important reason. In any case, the championship will not be born in January, and there is still a lot of adjustments for the Warriors, who need to maintain their form in this game and integrate Thompson into the team as soon as possible.