The Warriors are about to take their first East Coast road trip, facing a fascinating and varied set of opponents.
The first month of the season has provided the opportunity to learn a lot about all four teams:
Boston Celtics
Thursday at 5 p.m.
The Celtics so far: Gordon Hayward’s horrific injury five minutes into Opening Night could have sent Boston into a tailspin. Instead, after losing that game and the next night on a back-to-back, the Celtics have put together a strong 13-game win streak, including comeback wins over the Thunder, Bucks and Hornets. They are setting the tone defensively and Brad Stevens’ switch-heavy approach is working with a team of almost entirely new players. Despite that turnover and Hayward’s injury, the Celtics have the league’s best defense by a substantial margin right now.
Kyrie Irving returned to the court on Tuesday and is still dealing with a facial fracture (ouch) but has flourished with more ball movement and a more structured offense. That said, he has still dominated in crunch time: 41 points in 24 clutch minutes on 62.5 percent shooting.
What to watch for: How the Celtics’ switching system works against Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. Boston has a series of like-sized players and most of their guards, Marcus Smart particularly, can hold their own against most opposition. However, that gets tested differently when facing the best of the best. During the playoffs, Cleveland used Boston’s approach against them by working to secure favorable matchups for LeBron James. The Warriors have two former MVPs capable of absolute destruction and Boston has not faced players like Curry and Durant on this amazing run.
Philadelphia 76ers
Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
The Sixers so far: Philadelphia’s young core looks to be ahead of schedule. Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid have been even better than anticipated individually and more importantly together in their 7-6 start. Markelle Fultz, the 2017 No. 1 overall pick, is still out due to a strange shoulder injury, but Embiid and Simmons have totally picked up the slack with help from Robert Covington, JJ Redikk and an interesting collection of support players.
Remarkably, the Sixers have only allowed 96.7 points per 100 possessions with Embiid on the floor. That is both in line with Draymond Green’s defensive rating last year (99.3) and Embiid's own in 786 minutes last season (99.1). In their meeting at Oracle Arena last Saturday, the Warriors did better than just about anyone against him so far this year and it will be fun to see them try a second time.
What to watch for: Whether Green and company can stifle Simmons again. Simmons cannot make a jump shot (17 for 59 on shots beyond 10 feet) but has been able to attack the space opponents give him with the ball in his hands. However, the potential Rookie of the Year could not get good looks against Green and the Warriors, making just 6 of 17 attempts and only getting to the line four times. Beating the Warriors almost always requires efficiency and execution, putting a lot of the burden on Simmons.
Brooklyn Nets
Sunday at 3 p.m.
The Nets so far: Well, this will be less sunny than the Celtics and 76ers sections. Like Boston, Brooklyn lost a key contributor in their first game when Jeremy Lin ruptured his patella tendon that will cause him to miss the season. The Nets have not been able to handle his injury as well due to their weaker talent. D’Angelo Russell has looked better than during his tenure with the Lakers and will hopefully be back after dealing with a left knee contusion. But journeyman point guard Spencer Dinwiddie has done a nice job in a much larger role than anticipated.
After Tuesday’s loss to the Celtics, the Nets are 5-9 and possess the league’s sixth-worst Net Rating at -4.4 points per 100 possessions. That said, they are a fun, feisty group and have much better personnel than last year, including new additions Russell, Allen Crabbe and DeMarre Carroll, who looks much better physically than last year on the Raptors.
What to watch for: Brooklyn’s 3-point shooting. The Nets shoot a ton from deep — taking 33.6 percent of all shots from 3 is sixth most in the NBA. While they are 27th in how many of those long balls actually go in, that sheer frequency gives them more variance than most lower-end teams since games can swing more quickly. Brooklyn made 12 3s in its road win over the Blazers and 17 when it beat the Cavs.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Wednesday at 5 p.m.
The Thunder so far: Oklahoma City’s struggles in crunch time have generated more attention (1-6, league-worst -49.8 Net Rating) after dominating those stretches last year. But the biggest story in the season’s first month is that OKC's defense is for real. Steven Adams and Andre Roberson are foundational pieces, but Paul George deserves a ton of credit for buying in quickly and becoming a difference-maker on that end already.
The Thunder is second in the league right now and there is a little luck in there but mostly skill and execution. One surprising weakness on that end so far has been their defensive rebounding, which is 27th in the league. Some of that stems from not using a traditional backup center after trading Enes Kanter for Carmelo Anthony, but it could open up a few second-chance opportunities for the Warriors.
What to watch for: The second units. Coach Billy Donovan has done a nice job making sure at least one All-Star is on the floor at any one time and Anthony has been the best fit with the second unit since he can revert to Knicks Melo and produce a more effective offense than their lineups without Westbrook last season. Coach Steve Kerr and the Warriors are still figuring out their approach, but the current second unit has a propensity for scoring droughts and that could be problematic against the Thunder.
If you have any Warriors or salary cap questions for a future piece, e-mail danny@theathletic.com.
(Top photo: Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
