Obviously, having two star players on the floor is better than one. For the Warriors, with Klay Thompson sidelined for the entire season, Steph Curry and Draymond Green are those stars, and their presence is vital to the team's success night in and night out.
It turns out that Curry actually benefits tremendously when he plays alongside Green. Steph shoots 46.9 percent from 3-point range with Draymond on the floor, and just 32.6 percent when he is off the floor (h/t FiveThirtyEight/NBA Advanced Stats).
Curry's plus-minus also drops dramatically from 4.3 (per 36 minutes) when the two are on the floor together to -4.7 when Steph isn't sharing the court with Draymond. Just 2.8 turnovers are committed by Curry with Green on the floor, while Steph averages 5.2 over 36 minutes without his longtime teammate.
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Those are stark contrasts, and even as the Warriors tinker with the rotation throughout the regular season, clearly the Warriors are at their best with both of the stars on the court together.
ESPN NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins joined the "Dubs Talk" podcast last week, and told NBC Sports Bay Area that he'd like to see Green do a little more to help Curry on the offensive end.
“I knew Steph [Curry] was going to come back on an MVP-type of mission, which he is,” Perkins said. “And I thought Draymond was going to come back to have really something to prove after kind of having a down year last year, statistically-wise. I thought Draymond, with Klay being out, would be able to give you at least 15 or 16 points a night. Some of these games, Steph’s not going to be able to score 50 or 60 every single game.”
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Golden State Warriors
Steph's dominance on the offensive end this season has been backed up by the advanced stats, but even Green's presence appears to be an important aspect of that.
The two can't share the court every second of the game, but the Warriors clearly must maximize every moment the duo are on the floor together in order to consistently win.