Why the 2021 Golden State Warriors are chillingly similar to the pre-Kevin Durant teams that define their dynasty

THERE'S STEPHEN CURRY with the ball, gliding left of a double-screen at the top of the floor, before passing it off to Draymond Green. And there's Draymond, the game's best big-man facilitator, instantly returning the ball to Steph, who then delivers a touch pass to Andrew Wiggins in the left corner before cutting through to the right corner.

Steph will then lie in wait, like a slasher whose absence on the screen is even more menacing than his presence, a horror the Portland Trail Blazers will suffer soon enough.

There's Wiggins, the rejuvenated attacker, taking a power dribble toward the paint before sending the ball back up top to Green. There are Otto Porter Jr. and Jordan Poole putting their bodies between Curry and his defender, Nassir Little, which gives the two-time MVP his most prized commodity: space. There's Green throwing a perfect strike over two teammates and two opponents directly into Curry's shooting pocket.

And, finally, there's Curry again, draining the 2,960th 3-pointer of his career to give Golden State a nine-point lead just before halftime.

After a two-year hiatus from the league's upper echelon that threatened to become a permanent condition, the Golden State Warriors are back atop the NBA. There were plenty of reasons to believe that while their dynastic run included three championships and five straight Finals appearances, the Warriors were entering their twilight years -- gracefully aging leading men who could be honored for their lifetime achievements even as they fade from the spotlight.

Though they lost Kevin Durant to free agency in 2019, feature a core that is well on the other side of 30, and have endured the two-year absence of Klay Thompson, the Warriors don't look like a team that's been disrupted in the least by the harsh realities of basketball mortality.

They're a league-leading 23-5 with a league-best point differential of 11.6 a third of the way into the 2021-22 season, before Thompson has even suited up for his first game at Chase Center. Curry is playing some of the best basketball of his career, having just broken the NBA's all-time record with 2,977 successful 3-pointers. As the Warriors' anchor on defense and fulcrum on offense, Green has never looked more cunning (or healthier). Statistically and aesthetically, they look very much like their old selves.

Durant's transcendence made us forget that, prior to his arrival, the Warriors had just won an NBA-record 73 regular-season games. One of the features that makes this season's team so tantalizing is its potential to satisfy a lingering curiosity: Would the dominant pre-Durant Warriors have built a dynasty all the same?

Green, for his part, isn't so sure. For all of his pride -- and that of the organization more broadly -- in the Warriors' dominance of 2014-16, he believes the recruitment of Durant wasn't a luxury but a necessity.

"I don't think that would have continued on without Kevin," he says. "Everybody started defending us a certain way, and it got a lot tougher. Every team in the NBA has started building their team to compete against us, to be able to guard us, to literally match us. So I think as great as it was -- and I have no doubt in my mind we would have been right there again -- I do also think it was getting way tougher for us to figure out.

"And then we added Kevin and it wasn't."

But 2021 is not 2015. The NBA has evolved -- in no small part to counter the Warriors -- but there's something about this year's Warriors team that conjures up images of their early reign, a perception that will only be sharpened when Golden State runs its first handback curl for Thompson upon his return. And while the supporting cast is entirely different from the Warriors' first two Finals runs, squint hard enough and you can see the shape of what once was. Open your eyes, and see what they've become this season against expectations.

The first incarnation of the Warriors and the current one are remarkably, chillingly similar.

So, yes, we should have seen this coming. Here are six reasons why.

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"WE JUST NEEDED A BREAK"

"Everybody was exhausted," Warriors coach Steve Kerr says of their run to five consecutive Finals from 2015 to '19. "It felt like we had run two marathons. We just needed a break."

Michael Jordan notwithstanding, there are no sabbaticals in the NBA. There's also little sympathy for a franchise that set an NBA record for wins in a regular season, then added one of the era's generational superstars.

At the same time, the Warriors lost Curry for nearly the entirety of the 2019-20 season due to injury, Thompson for both "gap years," Durant to free agency and Andre Iguodala to financial realities. The season following their Finals loss to Toronto, the Warriors endured a 15-50 campaign that resulted in no qualification to the NBA's bubble, then last season ended with two losses in the play-in tournament.

"We were forced into this down period," Curry says. "So what are you doing? Where's the challenge of staying locked in mentally? Because you're so far away from where you're used to being."

When president of basketball operations Bob Myers speaks about the aftereffects of the title run, he prefaces each remark with the acknowledgement of the Warriors' embarrassment of riches -- nobody really minds being weighed down with gold. But the two-year break offered unintended benefits.

"It was a reprieve from expectations," Myers says. "We were out of the consciousness of the public. It let us breathe a little bit."

During the gap years, Myers focused more of his attention on scouting talent for the future, a fun exercise in possibility after five years managing a traveling circus. And Kerr got the opportunity to reflect on the success at a healthy distance.

Green was only moderately healthy during the gap years, and describes the period as a welcome exercise in mental inventory for those who remained from the championship teams. The early portion of that time was digesting success, but the second half was the realization that if the Warriors were ever going to win again, they'd have to build a fire.

"All of a sudden, everybody's counting you out," Green says. "Then you start remembering that feeling of how special it is when you go through what we went through. You want to prove everyone wrong, but more than that, you want to prove to yourself that you can do it again. We want to feel that again."

"A GREAT SPRINGBOARD INTO THIS SEASON"

The gap years weren't some uniformly fallow period for the Warriors. Something else happened during the final months: The Warriors played some of their best basketball in years.

"The last 20 games of last year reminded us we can be good," Kerr says. "We went 15-5. We played our style. That was a great springboard into this season."

Consider: In their final 20 games of last season, the Warriors ranked first in defensive efficiency and eighth in offensive efficiency while compiling a league-best net rating of plus-9.0 per 100 possessions. That's better than their mark in either of their last two Finals seasons.

The four-man combination of Curry, Green, Wiggins and Looney -- the starters this season along with Poole -- racked up a net rating of plus-11.2, a ravenous rebounding rate of 53.3% (better than any other team), and an eye-popping true shooting percentage (which factors in free throws and 3-pointers) of 61.2 -- again, the best among all 30 clubs.

The formula is eerily familiar, and should terrify the 29 other teams. The Warriors' switching defense smothered opponents, yielding only 0.91 points per chance on pick-and-rolls, best in the league. Looney, in particular, graduated to elite switching-big-man status defensively. Green showed his full portfolio -- lockdown perimeter and post defender, rim protector, expert weak-side helper and defensive coordinator.

And Curry returned to a dominance unseen in nearly three years. Without Thompson (and Durant), he thrived as both a pick-and-roll player, scoring a ridiculous 1.17 points per chance -- none of the 50 players with 400 or more chances over that period generated offense more efficiently. He also excelled in his usual capacity as a master re-locator along the perimeter. His effective field goal percentage on such plays last season was an eye-popping 75.4.

The result was an appealing blend: the ballet from 2014 and 2016, when the Warriors fashioned a generation-defining offense that was both surgical and explosive, and the model-breaking machine with Durant when the they were playing with a stacked deck.

If the recent past is a predictor of the near future -- as it was for the Phoenix Suns coming out of the bubble and into 2020-21 -- then the Warriors showed all the signs of dominance for 2021-22.

"THE PIECES FIT"

Coming off a two-year stint in Chicago marred by injuries, Porter entered free agency last summer as a 28-year-old former max-contract player looking to reestablish his viability as a serviceable NBA player. He had already earned $125 million in his young career, so money was irrelevant. The foremost goal for the season would be to find an environment that maximizes his attributes as a career 40% 3-point shooter with a 6-foot-8 frame capable of guarding multiple positions.

The NBA loves nothing more than a big guy who can shoot from distance and defend, so Porter had his share of brand-name suitors last summer, including Brooklyn, Boston and Philadelphia. Though the latter offered him a portion of its midlevel exception, Porter opted to sign for the veteran minimum with Golden State.

In the arms race for the kind of versatile reserves that would start for many NBA teams, and provide versatility for a contender, the Warriors came up on top. And they did it through the power of persuasion.

"It was somewhere I've always wanted to play, given the culture, player personnel and the way they play the game," Porter says. "They play the way I loved to play in high school and college -- the movement, the cutting off the ball, the motion offense. It was a no-brainer."

Myers and Kerr painted an appealing picture: In build and skill set, Porter was a prototypical Warrior. There would likely be nights when he'd ideally finish the game as the team's "4" in a small-ball lineup, they told him. The medical care he'd find with the team would be some of the best he'd encounter during his career.

Though much of the Warriors attention last summer was devoted to selecting their two lottery picks in the draft -- Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody -- the roster-building on the back end has been pivotal.

While the Lakers, the preseason favorites to take the West, were trading away their depth and losing their defensive identity in exchange for Russell Westbrook and a roster with high name recognition but low output, the Warriors went in another direction. They fortified their scrappy, hungry youth movement -- Poole (28th pick in 2019), Gary Payton II (undrafted), Juan Toscano-Anderson (undrafted), Damion Lee (undrafted) -- with Porter, Nemanja Bjelica and 2015 Finals MVP Iguodala.

Asked why the current iteration of the Warriors has worked, Green replies, "Our front office has done an incredible job with putting together a deep roster around us that understands how to play the game of basketball."

Curry's response was more succinct:

"The pieces fit."

"OH, WE HAVE THIS 6-FOOT-8 THREE"

From the opening tip the Friday night after Thanksgiving, Wiggins was fully actualized as a Golden State Warrior.

On the team's opening possession, he curls up from the left corner -- a spot occupied by Harrison Barnes in the pre-Durant days. Wiggins collects a handoff from Looney, crosses over Portland's spidery Robert Covington, lowers his left shoulder, squeezes between Covington and Norman Powell and finds himself at the glass in an instant for the most elementary of layups. After a made Portland basket, he races out ahead underneath the defense to catch a 28-foot pass from Green before the Trail Blazers' defense can even find its footing.

The real magic comes in the second half, when Wiggins is cutting like a katana in Golden State's half-court offense. Curry barely crosses half court before Wiggins takes a step toward the top of the floor, then bolts the other way with a back cut to the rim, where he throws down a lob from Curry. A few minutes later, when Green is doing his thing out of the right high post, Wiggins gets a back screen from Curry, flies to the rim, and flushes a lob, this time from Green. In the fourth quarter, he curls off yet another screen from Curry, this one from the right corner, snatches a feathery pass from Green at the top of the arc and muscles his way over CJ McCollum for an easy drop at the rim.

The Warriors' offense before Durant's arrival in 2016 was a defining part of the team's novelty (the offense after he joined the team was a pyrotechnic feat). Predicated more on execution and rhythm than athleticism and penetration, the Warriors' offense isn't plug-and-play. Learning to play within it requires a specific collection of skills and recognition.

As the Warriors reestablish the style and conventions of their pre-Durant offense -- a process that will accelerate with the return of Thompson -- it's easy to look at Wiggins and conclude that he's playing the role of Harrison Barnes. Like Barnes, he has become a proficient stand-still shooter from distance who provides spacing and can defend big wings.

"It's natural to say, 'Oh, they have this 6-foot-8 three. [Wiggins] must be Harrison Barnes in this thing,'" Green says. "But they're two totally different players. And what we asked of Year 2 and 3 Harrison Barnes in our system is different than what we ask of Year 8 Andrew Wiggins."

What the Warriors ask of Wiggins is an interesting amalgamation of Barnes and Durant. As they did of Barnes, the coaching staff has demanded that Wiggins adopt a keen understanding of angles, of where to drift, move and cut within the confines of the offense. Unlike Barnes, who was never successful as the primary creator, particularly with the Warriors' bench units, Wiggins can manufacture shots without much help.

"He is someone that you can go to as an escape valve to get you a bucket, to get to the line and get fouled, to get downhill and get something in the paint or at the rim," Green says. "And he's also someone you can leave on the floor and run the offense around."

Wiggins began to understand how to play off Curry, receiving handoffs from Looney, and with modified versions of their heralded split actions for drives or clean perimeter attempts. The Warriors found opportunities for Wiggins as a cutter (even utilizing the ol' flex offense in spots), and Green quickly established a knack for finding Wiggins on the weak side when the opposing defense found itself in a Curry sinkhole.

A former No. 1 pick whose physical profile never translated into efficient dominance in Minnesota, Wiggins became a cautionary tale for valuing athleticism over approach. But in Golden State, the approach is baked into the program. The Warriors need a wing creator who can find shots for himself to spell Curry and Green, and Wiggins has obliged. While he's no Kevin Durant in that respect -- who is? -- Wiggins is an innings-eater who can consume possessions when the Warriors need him most.

"NO MORE PLAYING WITH THAT 'SWITCH'"

It's the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and the Warriors are tightening the vise. Their opponent, the Los Angeles Clippers are working hard -- so hard -- to find anything in the half court to start the second quarter.

The vise the Warriors are applying to the Clippers' offense is reminiscent of the pre-Durant Warriors, back before they could coast during a 12:30 weekend game in December. They switch effortlessly, stunt seamlessly, crowd the paint when need be, and play the gaps with discipline.

Toscano-Anderson picks up Eric Bledsoe at the center line, and it's 12 seconds before Bledsoe can advance to within 28 feet of the basket on a possession that sees Serge Ibaka back into the paint against two defenders before kicking out a pass with the clock ticking down to ... Steph Curry.

On the next possession, it's Reggie Jackson's turn, and though he manages to draw Bjelica on a switch, there's no daylight. For the last third of the possession, he and Bledsoe toss the flaming bag back and forth. Ultimately, the possession is taken out of its misery with a contested 25-foot brick from Jackson.

A few minutes before halftime, Paul George and Ivica Zubac try to team up on a pick-and-roll against Wiggins and Green, but Wiggins is tight on George's shoulder and won't let Zubac anywhere near George. When Zubac reverses course and slips toward the paint, Green denies the Clippers any positive angles as a one-man zone defense. George lowers his right shoulder but can't get anywhere against a sturdy Wiggins. With five seconds left and more pressure arriving, George kicks it out to Bledsoe, who drives and throws up an off-balanced, one-legged floater.

The Warriors' offense has been the envy of the NBA since the league first saw the first package of splits and early flares in the motion attack coming out of Oakland. As Clippers coach Ty Lue said recently, 95% of the NBA is pick-and-roll, while the other 5% are the Warriors. That number remains at 5% because no other NBA teams have a Steph Curry, or a point forward/center with the intuitive brilliance of a Draymond Green.

Even so, it's not the graceful choreography of Golden State's offense that has influenced a league, but the tactical facility of its defense.

The Warriors are giving up only 100.2 points per 100 possessions, a whopping 3.7 points fewer than second-ranked Phoenix. In fact, there's a greater margin between No. 1 and No. 2 than between No. 2 and the No. 11 Lakers. This is before the return of Klay Thompson, who was recognized as an All-NBA defender in his most recent season, 2019.

Inflicting misery on opponents wins titles, as it did when the Warriors won their first in 2015 with their top-ranked defense. By their own admission, the Warriors have shocked themselves this season by also leading the NBA in defensive rebounding, while they rank fourth in forcing turnovers. They didn't exactly coast defensively during their three-year run with Durant. But there's a renewed dedication defensively this season, largely because the Warriors don't have the luxury to dawdle.

"One of our Achilles' heels was that it could take us until the second quarter to wake up," says Iguodala. "But we don't have that margin anymore. We don't have the luxury of having Kevin Durant. There's no more playing with that 'switch.' There's more of a killer mentality."

And they're quietly reestablishing an updated version of the "Death Lineup." The unit with Green at center, Porter at power forward, and the three perimeter starters sport a net rating of 16.3, with an infinitesimal 88.3 defensive mark. Rev up the time machine.

"IT'S GREAT FILM FOR US TO HAVE"

When did you know this team could be this good? It's a question the Warriors find disarming, not because the outcome is of any great surprise, but because it's not a question they've had to ask of themselves in ages.

"When Kevin [Durant] came over, we were winning a championship," Green says. "It was just a matter of the day and the time. But it's not that way anymore."

Asked to pinpoint a moment, Curry cites the first 10 days of the season, starting with the opening night 121-114 win over the Lakers in Los Angeles, in what the Warriors felt was a subpar performance.

"We're on the road and they had all that hype and all the names," Curry says. "We won, but we had conversations after the game that we could've played way better."

The Warriors won their next three games, but Curry believed that their spacing in the half-court possessions wasn't up to their standards. Over the next week, he made spacing a particular point of emphasis in discussions, film sessions and sidebars at practices. That conversation came to a head after the Warriors' first loss of the season, an overtime affair at home to Memphis.