With 29 games left in their schedule, the Golden State Warriors are about to embark on a pivotal phase of their 2023–24 NBA season after taking a week off. The 27-26 Warriors still have a long way to go before they can challenge the No. 10 seed. Even so, the Warriors still have a lot of basketball left in them, and since they have one of the easier schedules left, Stephen Curry and company still have a chance to move up the Western Conference rankings. But the Warriors have to play almost flawlessly the rest of the way in order to succeed.
Lester Quinones is a two-way guard that Golden State is about to sign to a standard deal in order to fill their fourteenth roster space. With his grit and energy on the defensive end and his three-point shooting and shiftiness on the offensive end, Quinones has quietly cemented a place in Steve Kerr’s bench rotation. He is playing almost 19 minutes per game over the past ten games, scoring 6.7 points, grabbing 3.3 rebounds, and dishing out 2.0 assists on 40.0 percent shooting from outside the arc.
His “addition” to Golden State’s starting lineup does not, however, solve the team’s biggest weakness—that being their lack of size.
With Draymond Green starting at center, the Golden State Warriors’ small ball unit remains their strongest lineup. This lineup has also evolved into their starting five. The Warriors have prospered on both ends of the court since Green’s long ban ended on January 15. Since then, Golden State has claimed the top spot in the league for both offense and defense. The squad has improved especially during the last ten games, going 8-2 and holding the fourth-best net rating in the Association.