Quote:
Originally Posted by candybar
Again, I think you're missing the point of these numbers. The point isn't that the Warriors were terrible without Durant - they were obviously a pretty good team even without KD, just as the Raptors were without Kawhi - but that the numbers went from absurd (2017) to normal (2019). Which supports the thesis that the 17 Warriors and the 19 Warriors were very different in terms of their overall quality. Of course starters play more together than not, that's not the point.
Also re:
Where are you getting this? For 18-19,
Curry was +13.2 in 2321 MP
Curry/Durant was +15.7 in 1854 MP
So if you do the math (assuming relatively constant pace) Curry without Durant must have been roughly -3.3. Again, I fully acknowledge that the 2017 Warriors likely were the most loaded super team ever and the 2018 Warriors were still an all-time great team, well above mere championship level teams. My point is that the evidence points to the 2019 Warriors being substantially worse. This happens to every top team - the Pistons from 90 to 91 to 92, the Lakers from 02 to 03, the Heat from 12/13 to 14, etc, etc. Dominance is difficult to sustain and playing in the Finals for 5 straight years is going to be mentally and physical exhausting. The Warriors were so good in 2017 that even a substantial decline, they were at worst a top-2 team, but it looks like they declined just like all great teams eventually do.
Apologies, they were +13 for the 3 years, not 2019. In 2019 they were "only" +6 according to cleaning the glass on limited minutes (less than 1000 possessions).