Five Warriors stats that stand out from an uneven November

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The Warriors began the month of November in the midst of an 0-5 road trip, and ended it with a tough but look-at-the-bright-side loss to the Dallas Mavericks on the road. Overall, they went 8-7 in the month, evening their season record to 11-11. 

Two of their seven losses were to the New Orleans Pelicans on the road in games where Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green all sat. They can at least be somewhat thrown out in the grand scheme of things. 

There were highs and there were lows. There were rotation experiments, changes and James Wiseman -- the No. 2 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft -- was sent down to the Warriors' G League affiliate in Santa Cruz. At the start of the month, the Warriors looked like a scrambled puzzle thrown down on an old coffee table. By the end, the pieces were starting the come together, and at times they resembled what one could expect out of the reigning NBA champions. 

With all that being said, what stood out most as the Warriors begin their next 15-game slate in December? There simply are too many stats and numbers to choose from. Here are five that stood out before the Warriors take on the Chicago Bulls on Friday back home at Chase Center. 

70.9

Let's start with Steph. Who else would get the top spot? Now, the bigger question: What exactly does that number represent? 

Curry in 13 games throughout November finished the month with a 70.9 true shooting percentage.

In February of 2016, during his unanimous MVP season, Curry became the first player in NBA history to average at least 30.0 points, 5.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds on 70 percent true shooting or better for an entire month. Nearly seven years ago, Curry played 10 games in February and averaged 36.7 points, 7.3 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game with a 71.6 true shooting percentage. 

At 34 years old, he just finished a month as good or better than those eye-opening numbers. Playing three more games, Curry averaged 31.6 points, 7.8 assists and 6.7 rebounds per game, along with his 70.9 true shooting percentage. Not bad for someone who historically should be trending down right now in his career. 

From the field, Curry shot 54.6 percent while averaging 20.2 shot attempts per game. He made 46 percent of his 3-pointers and 88.9 percent of his free throws. So yeah, No. 30 still is in his prime and seems to be extending it on a daily basis. 

30.2

Ever since Steve Kerr arrived in 2014, Golden State's lucky number has been 30. And no, that isn't because of Mr. Curry himself. He is a part of it, though. 

The number has to do with team assists. When the ball is moving and zipping around the floor, the Warriors are incredibly hard to stop. In November, they led the league in assists per game at 30.2. 

Of the Warriors' 15 games last month, they dished out 30 or more assists nine times. They were 6-3 in such games, making them 2-4 in games where they fell under their goal. Circling the number doesn't always result in a win, but it's pretty strong starting point. 

Curry had three double-doubles with at least 10 assists in November, finishing with 13 assists in a loss to the Miami Heat, 10 in a win over the New York Knicks and 15 in the Warriors' victory vs. the Houston Rockets. Green racked up double-digit assists in four games: 13 in a win against the Cleveland Cavaliers, 11 in a loss to the Sacramento Kings, 12 in a win over the Los Angeles Clippers and 11 while beating the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

And then there's Jordan Poole. As he continues to search for consistency shooting the ball, he handed out nine assists twice in November, eight once and reached at least five assists six times.

112.4

While the Warriors' offense remains one of the best in basketball and finished the month sixth in offensive rating, the defense still has a ways to go. Their defensive rating was a 112.4, which was 17th in the NBA. 

Opponents averaged 115 points in 15 November games, which ranked 19th in the NBA. The opposing team shot 45.6 percent against the Warriors last month, which actually was the fifth-best mark for a defense across the league. The other team also shot 35.7 percent from 3-point range, ranking 17th among defense. What stands out most is what likely is most frustrating to Kerr. 

Free throws.

The Warriors allowed 26.3 free throws per game in November. Only the Timberwolves, at 26.4, were worse. Opponents also made 20.3 free throws per game against the Warriors, ranking behind only the Oklahoma City Thunder (20.7) and Detroit Pistons (20.9). The Warriors were giving away free points left and right, getting whistles blown on them like a Too Short video was playing in the background. 

Defending without fouling has been a major point of emphasis from Kerr. It's part of a learning curve of having a young bunch, and it will remain top of mind as the season progresses. 

Time for some good news. Since Nov. 7, the Warriors' 110.5 defensive rating is tied for the sixth-best in the league over the last three weeks of the month. It's starting to come along, though there is plenty of room for improvement.

59.1 

On a nightly basis, Wiggins is proving to be a steal of an offseason contract extension. He looks like he's going to be an All-Star year in and year out as one of the best two-way players in the NBA. Wiggins is the latest member of the Splash Family, becoming a knockdown shooter from 3-point range, especially in catch-and-shoot situations. 

Then there are his struggles at the free-throw line. Wiggins' issues at the charity stripe were well documented last season. He wound up shooting a career-low 63.4 percent on free throws a season ago. 

Though Wiggins never has been automatic from the line like Curry, Thompson or Poole, his improvements beyond the arc would suggest his free-throw number should be on the rise. It's quite the opposite. 

In November, Wiggins shot 53 percent from the field and 46.2 percent on 3-pointers, but made only 59.1 percent of his free throws. Over his 13 games for the month, Wiggins averaged 1.7 free-throw attempts per game. He had four games where he didn't shoot a single free throw, and only two were he took four free throws.

Wiggins being a confident threat from deep is nothing but a positive. The Warriors also are at their best when he's slashing, attacking and using his athleticism to go right at the rim and possibly earn at trip to the free-throw line. Getting him to the line confidently will be a development to watch for the 27-year-old. 

31

Searching for the positives of last month, Curry, at 34 years old, stands out above the rest. That's nothing new, though. In recent developments, a 20-year-old has given the coaching staff and his teammates major signs of encouragement.

Jonathan Kuminga's first three games of the month went like this: Two DNPs (Did Not Play) followed by almost 38 minutes in the Warriors' first loss to the Pelicans where stars were in street clothes. In that game, he showed plenty of flashes with a season-high 18 points and was a plus-2 in plus/minus during the nine-point loss. 

But he was then a minus-17 his next game, a three-point loss to the Sacramento Kings. So, what does 31 symbolize for the former top draft pick? That's his combined plus/minus his past three games. 

The stretch started off with Kuminga being a plus-2 in 13 minutes against the Utah Jazz, despite not shooting once. He was then a plus-8 vs. Minnesota with seven points and six rebounds in nearly 20 minutes. His best performance came in the conclusion of the month, playing 26 minutes off the bench in Dallas and scoring 14 points with 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. He was a team-high plus-21 in the loss and made an impact on both sides all game long. 

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Kerr called that performance the best game he has seen Kuminga play. Kuminga was picking up Luka Dončić all over the court, cutting at the right times for easy dunks and crashed the glass all game. He has proven to be the spark the Warriors need off the bench, filling the Gary Payton II void, and is entrenched in the rotation. 

His ceiling always has been sky-high, with questions regarding his floor. Kuminga is figuring out how easy the game can be for him when he's focused on the little things, and his potential will only seep through the more that remains his mindset. So as Curry led the pack, Kuminga is racing toward the front and earning trust more and more. 

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