Why does the Warriors offense still feel off?

There was a fleeting moment in the Lakers’ Christmas Day drubbing of Golden State when the Warriors became The Warriors – the team that, just three years ago, recalibrated our collective understanding of how basketball could be played and which skills were most useful in doing so.

Near the end of the first half, the lead already in double-digits, Steph Curry crossed halfcourt and initiated a pick-and-roll with Draymond Green. As both defenders rushed to Curry, he slipped a pass to Green with the sort of timing and precision that only comes from years of running this exact action with this exact teammate.

Without putting the ball back down, Green tossed a lob to Andre Iguodala, who upon seeing Curry give the ball up, instinctively cut from the left corner as his man, LeBron James, stepped over to cut off Green’s drive. Josh Hart, glued to Klay Thompson on the right side, could only watch as Iguodala slammed home his 15th and 16th points of the half:

It was vintage Golden State — an easy bucket for a heady role-player set up by the instincts of the league’s foremost playmaking big man and the gravity of an unparalleled shooter. The play was notable both for its brilliant execution and its mere occurrence. Such sequences have become fewer and further between over the last few years as the Warriors have shifted away from the fluid, organic system that helped them revolutionize basketball and toward a more intentional style that only a team of such immense talent could possibly execute. The “Strength In Numbers” ethos that defined the early Steve Kerr era feels oddly unfitting now that the offense is so heavily reliant on top-end talent.

When a team can generate any shot it wants at any given moment, creativity becomes less of an advantage and more of a burden; why labor through sets when equal value can be gained from Curry or Kevin Durant pulling up earlier in the shot clock? One of the three best players in the world settling for a jumper is a far different proposition than a common starter doing the same. As a result, Curry is running fewer pick-and-rolls than in past seasons while Durant eagerly devours the mid-range. Thompson is attempting his lowest share of 3-pointers since his rookie season as Green struggles to find the basket, let alone create his own shot.

The greatest casualty of the Warriors’ indifference, however, is the euphoria that came from watching Curry’s nuclear breakout and, by extension, the team’s rise to prominence. Golden State was as visually appealing as it was strategically revolutionary, making a complete dismantling of the NBA aesthetically pleasing. There is little sense of that now, even as they continue to dominate. Scoring feels more like a chore than a joy, and the team plays long stretches with unbridled apathy, the prospect of another deep playoff run preventing any meaningful incentive to dominating the regular season.

Durant’s presence is partially to blame, as is the growing ennui of the regular season that accompanies four consecutive Finals appearances. Superstar talent can fit into most any system or scheme and quell on-court strain, but there is a fundamental dissonance between Durant and Kerr’s Warriors that has created stylistic tension, even as Golden State has subjugated the rest of the league. Durant prefers to work with the ball in his hands as he searches for his shot — an approach that has proven rather effective over the course of his career. Curry, meanwhile, seeks to push at every opportunity, creating advantages through hit-ahead passes, off-ball movement and improvised screening actions.

That tension has manifest at every turn of Durant’s tenure in Golden State. The prevalence of “iso-ball” drew sharp criticism as Houston disrupted the Warriors’ rhythm in last season’s Conference Finals, only for the same approach to help them coast past Cleveland in the Finals. With Curry having missed 11 games earlier in the year, Durant has made a stronger imprint on the Warriors than ever. They are making fewer passes per possession this season, but that has had little discernible impact on efficiency. They skew slower and more isolation-heavy when playing through Durant, and revert to a faster, improvised tempo when Curry plays without him. Both styles, however, have proven dominant, and Golden State has been better this season when Durant plays without Curry than vice versa – a stark difference from years past and indication that the team has better acquiesced to Durant’s stylistic impositions.

The far more pressing matter than that pair’s coexistence is the relative lack of production from the rest of the roster. Thompson and Green continue to struggle on offense as Kerr searches for answers he doesn’t have on his bench. Amid his prolonged cold spell, Thompson has resorted to forcing difficult mid-range looks, stagnating the offense and closing the door on any better option that might unfold over the course of a possession. Green, while lethal as a facilitator and defender, is ineffective as a scorer and therefore commands little respect from defenses, who instead devote extra attention to Curry or Durant. With Thompson hitting just 35 percent of his 3s, the Warriors are reduced to precious few capable shooters on their roster, even if one of them is the greatest marksman in the history of the sport. Opponents will gladly dare the likes of Quinn Cook, Alfonzo McKinnie and Jonas Jerebko to shoot if it means keeping a tighter watch on more dangerous weapons.

And yet, Golden State still has one of the two best offenses in the NBA for the fifth consecutive year as both Curry and Durant are having superlative seasons. They still stifle opponents with Green on the floor and the specter of DeMarcus Cousins’ return looms as a potential remedy to any offensive weakness. There shouldn’t be a real cause for concern, only slight adjustment. Curry has begun playing more minutes with second units when Durant rests and Green will likely act as a screener for the other three All-Stars more often — both on and off the ball. Perhaps this might leave the door cracked open for the rest of the competition, if only a team in the West appeared strong enough to actually present a challenge to Golden State. Instead, this momentary turbulence will likely result in another championship and demolition of the rest of the NBA. The manner in which they do it seems only to be a matter of preference.