Curry, Warriors Face Tough Challenges

This was supposed to be their redemption season. Instead, the Golden State Warriors find themselves near the bottom of the Western Conference standings with a 2-3 record. 

Klay Thompson is out for another season after sustaining another season-ending injury. The two players who are supposed to help fill in the void left by Thompson are shooting bricks. This might be the first season Steph Curry will be looked at by Golden State fans as the one who would carry the team and while it's still early in the 2020-2021 National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season, the Warriors are off to a slow start in the shortened season and that, the injury to Klay Thompson is just one tough challenge that the team will have to overcome. That, and the fact that Draymond Green has only played one game as he isn't 100% healthy. Yet. 

The Warriors are currently 20th in the league in scoring with 108 points per game average and are also the worst defensive team in the NBA right now as they are giving up 124 points per game. In all of their losses thus far, opponents were able to score past the 123-point mark while losing at an average margin of 30 points. To make things worse, Curry and company lost on opening night to the Brooklyn Nets where Kevin Durant had 22 points. Durant won two NBA championships and two Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards during his stint in Oakland. 

Steph Curry is leading the team in scoring (26 points per game) and assists (six assists per game) but is shooting 32% from the three-point line. Curry is also averaging a team-leading three turnovers per game. Andrew Wiggins is averaging 17 points but on 37% field goal shooting  James Wiseman is showing glimpses of the future but Golden State needs more from him than his 11-point per game average. 

This is uncharted territory for the Warriors, especially for Steph Curry.  He is carrying a younger team. He's carrying a depleted team. He's playing with a struggling team and this is a far cry from the Golden State Warriors squad some came to hate during the near end of the past decade. As Damian Lillard perfectly said, "With the injuries that the Warriors have been dealing with and Steph playing with a younger team right now, he’s seeing that it’s tough to get those quality looks right now,"

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