NBA Week 3 Rewind: Stephen Curry, Warriors can’t be stopped
By Tom West
Who’s Struggling?
Besides the teams who we all know are going to do poorly this season (or just straight up tank), here’s a look at a few who have been struggling over the last week.
The Houston Rockets stormed back after their 0-3 start by going on a four game winning streak, and now they’ve set themselves and lost all momentum yet again. What’s even more worrying for their team and fans is that they haven’t even lost to many elite opponents. They’ve lost three straight games to end this week, with those losses being dealt to them by the Brooklyn Nets, Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks. Is that really all it took? Furthermore, it only took the Nets and Mavericks to hand the Rockets two more losses at home?
That shouldn’t be happening for a team featuring the likes of James Harden, Dwight Howard, Ty Lawson and numerous other talented players. It’s understandable if they take time to adjust and find their rhythm together after key roster changes this summer, but losses to teams like the 1-9 Nets can’t happen.
Plus, with Harden still shooting below 40 percent and making a mere 24 percent of his 9.6 threes per game, the Rockets won’t be improving much if their former MVP candidate can’t get it together. In recent games, they’ve just looked out-worked, out-run, and entirely out-matched on defense. Now, they’re 4-6 because of it.
The Detroit Pistons have taken a turn for the worse after Andre Drummond’s terrifying interior dominance led them to a 5-1 start. It was bound to happen at some point, of course. The Pistons just can’t go from being at the depths of their Conference to becoming a top four seed, no matter how many 20-20 games Drummond has.
In week 3, Pistons fans were set back in reality as their weekly schedule contained the likes of the Warriors and Clippers, which promptly handed them a four-game losing streak to close out the week.
Losses to elite teams like those are expected, yet losing to the Kings and, of all teams, the Lakers, isn’t something they can afford to do. Even with 17 points and 17 rebounds from Drummond, the Pistons fell to the Lakers 85-97 and shot just 36.5 percent. Although, that’s the problem when somewhat streaky guards like Reggie Jackson and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope go cold. That’s when Detroit just run out of good offense. Now, they’re right back at a .500 record.
The Portland Trail Blazers were playing well at the start of this season. They’ve been stripped bare after LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, and Robin Lopez left this summer, and in their absence Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum have really been stepping up. Then week 3 rolled around and they suddenly lost five straight after putting together a three game winning streak to close out week 2.
When Lillard and McCollum have bad shooting nights, the loss of Aldridge will feel even greater. They have limited offensive options and rely heavily on their starting backcourt, who are taking 37.9 shots together so far. With a lacking interior threat on defense as well, their 26th ranking in defensive efficiency won’t get them far in the West right now. Especially when they fail to box-out opponents and surrender game-winning rebounds, that defense will hurt them even more.
Next: The Best Highlights of Week 3