Month-long gauntlet will show if Warriors are true contenders or not originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Coach Steve Kerr on Tuesday used the word “daunting” when describing the Warriors’ upcoming schedule, a clearer admission of what his team is about to be up against as opposed to how he referred to their stretch of games, beginning Wednesday night against the No. 1-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, after Golden State’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets the previous night.
“The schedule is the schedule,” Kerr said Monday following the Warriors’ 128-120 loss. “I don’t look ahead. There’s all kinds of hard games. A couple weeks ago we had OKC, Boston and Cleveland staring at us. It is what it is.
“You just play. We got to play better. Nothing else matters.”
All true statements. Kerr, his coaching staff and players only can go one game at a time.
The past, which in the Warriors’ case is two consecutive games of losing near-20-point leads in the third quarter only to lose to shorthanded rebuilding teams, is the past. The future will be written soon enough. And they already have faced an intimidating set of games this season during a five-game road trip that ended against the Celtics, Thunder and Cavaliers.
The Warriors went 2-1 in their toughest early-season test. Up to that point, they had been beating up on bottom-tier competition. Those wins on the road against the Celtics and Thunder are what opened eyes across the league.
Only now, the Warriors are staring at a slate that’s a month’s worth of games that can reveal if the whole really is greater than the sum of its parts. Golden State is opening the gates to a gauntlet. By the end of the calendar year, it should be pretty clear just how much of a contender these Warriors can be – if they’re fine as is, or if some shaking up is in store.
“What’s disappointing is the last two games were very winnable,” Kerr said Tuesday after Warriors practice. “Big leads, on the road in San Antonio and at home last night. Those are games we should close out, and obviously we’re facing a daunting schedule ahead.
“So, it’s disappointing, but it’s 82 games and we’re going to be facing all kinds of stuff – whether it’s a tough schedule, injuries like we have now, people out. Doesn’t matter. Nobody cares.”
The Thunder are just the start. Then it’s on the road for games in Phoenix and Denver. The Suns are 9-1 with Kevin Durant this season, and though the Nuggets have been good but not great, Nikola Jokic very much has been great by averaging a triple-double of 29.7 points, 13.4 rebounds and 10.9 assists per game.
Coming home won’t be an easy welcome back when the Warriors have a three-game homestand against the Houston Rockets, winners in eight of their last 10 games, and then two in a row against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
A short set of home games is followed by a flight to Memphis to theoretically play Ja Morant for the first time since Jan. 25, 2023, and then a game in Minnesota for the Warriors’ third date with the Timberwolves in two weeks. They come for their first of two games against the Indiana Pacers this season, and then a Christmas game at Chase Center against the Los Angeles Lakers, the fifth instance the Warriors have played LeBron James on Christmas.
The year ends with another visit to Intuit Dome, and home games playing the Suns and Cavs.
That wraps up 23 games where the Warriors’ opponents have a current combined record of 136-91, a 59.1 win percentage. The only Western Conference team with a record under .500 in those games is the Timberwolves at 8-9. The only Eastern Conference team they’ll face is the 8-10 Pacers, a team that can turn it around quickly.
Something is missing in that math, too. It doesn’t include the NBA Cup.
In the middle of taking out their shields and staving off a number of the best teams in the West, the Warriors will be competing in the NBA Cup, having already qualified for at least the quarterfinals.
“It’s our ability, and every team’s ability, to win games in the midst of difficult stretches,” Kerr said. “To play through the bad stretches, to not get too down. You trust that over the course of the 82, if you have a good team and you’re committed and you’re playing with energy, your record is going to end up pretty good.”
One game at a time. It’s the only way the Warriors can get back on track, and keep themselves sane by not taking a long look at the schedule. What’s in front of them can tell the story of what the season ultimately is going to be, good or bad.
