The common factor when it comes to the Golden State Warriors record sitting at the bottom of the Westen Conference is the injuries to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Without the “Splash Brothers,” the rest of Golden State is in evaluation mode.
A big question mark for the 2019-20 season surrounded two former NBA All-Stars — how will Draymond Green and D’Angelo Russell work together? Each has dealt with nagging injuries, yet Steve Kerr is happy how they’ve improved together as his primary offensive ball-handlers.
We’ve seen improvement within the last few games to where they share the ball-handling responsibilities — ‘D-Lo’ gets off the ball some and Draymond handles, then we flip that — D-Lo will handle to the ball and Draymond will play a more traditional screening role — last night it was very effective.
Against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Warriors had a chance an upset bid on the back of Russell and Green. Russell netted 28 points, while Green only added nine points, but the duo combined for 19 assists. Green was only one board and one point away from registering a triple-double in Philly.
Steve Kerr on D’Angelo Russell’s progress: pic.twitter.com/jBWn1qW6Gt
— Connor Letourneau (@Con_Chron) January 29, 2020
When it comes to Russell, Kerr is especially impressed with the way he’s able to find other Warriors, while still carrying the scoring load.
I think D’Angelo’s been really, really good — setting other guys up, also looking to score, creating offense for us — playing at a high level.
Over his past 10-games, Russell is averaging 27.6 points and 6.9 assists per game. In the Warriors win against the Orlando Magic, Russell dropped 26 points, adding a season-high 12 assists.
Throughout the remainder of the season, Green and Russell’s development as a duo will play a significant piece heading into free agency. How the two will fit as a unit next to Thompson and Curry will give Bob Myers an idea whom he can plug around the rest of the roster to get back into championship contention.