The Golden State Warriors Will Prevail with Mental Toughness

The Golden State Warriors rebounded after a loss to the Spurs, displaying the mental toughness they’ll need to compete for a second straight title.

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The Golden State Warriors managed to avoid back-to-back losses by beating the Timberwolves on the road. But their victory over Minnesota — their 63rd of the season — was far from convincing and even seemed fragile at times.

More specifically, Stephen Curry struggled greatly during Golden State’s two most recent games. A cold Curry is a rare occasion because he’s obviously been outstanding from long range all season. Unfortunately for the Warriors, the reigning MVP has gone a frosty 3-21 from beyond the arc in the past two games.

Ever since the Spurs used bold defense to beat the Warriors on Saturday, the rest of the NBA seems to think a miraculous “blue-print” for beating Golden State has appeared. Apparently, both the Spurs and the Timberwolves switched up their defense by placing forwards on Curry and guards on Draymond Green.

Sure, this approach might stifle the Golden State Warriors’ offense when everybody is having a bad night. However, the rest of the NBA can’t expect to take down the defending champions by trying to shut down just one player.

This defensive “blue-print” is intended to smother Curry and force Green to challenge the basket. Of course, other teams acknowledge the fact that Green isn’t the most consistent shooter, but opponents fail to respect the energy and mental toughness that Draymond Green delivers.

Curry is the MVP and is arguably, the best shooter that the NBA has ever seen. Green, on the other hand, isn’t even close to being a perfect player. That’s exactly why the Golden State Warriors love him. He bleeds passion on the court every game, and his effort level is rarely matched by opponents.

Green came alive with 24 points and nine rebound against Minnesota to keep the team’s hopes for the regular season win record alive.

Throughout Monday’s victory, Curry was by no means ineffective. He provided a double-double with 11 assists and 19 points. The difference was that Curry wasn’t his usual lethal self on offense. In regards to Curry’s recent regression, Green said:

"“You know, he carries us a lot of games. When the team can’t get it going, Steph gets it going and then everyone else. And now he’s struggling with his shot a little bit, it’s our turn to pick him up.”"

There is absolutely no need for the Golden State Warriors to panic. It’s a simple matter of fact that Curry will surge back to dominance sooner rather than later. Plus, the Warriors have the deepest team and most effective bench in the NBA.

Among the starters, Green picks things up when the team seems down. When it comes to the bench, Shaun Livingston and Marreese Speights have produced consistently solid efforts for Golden State.

Despite the strong depth of the team, it’s not a ridiculous occurrence that Curry is a bit worn out right now. The regular season is quite long, and the Warriors haven’t been at full strength for a few weeks. More of the workload has been on Curry recently due to the absences of Andre Iguodala, Andrew Bogut, and Festus Ezeli. Once those three players return and the playoffs begin, the Golden State Warriors will be back operating at 100% efficiency.

Next: Which Team Can Upset the Dubs in the Playoffs?

There isn’t any reason to believe that the Warriors aren’t the number one contenders to win the NBA Finals this year. If anything, this rough stretch is making Golden State mentally tougher than they were last season. All-around toughness will be the defining characteristic of the Warriors during this fight to break the win record and repeat as champions.

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The Golden State Warriors Will Prevail With Mental Toughness

By Brandon Keller | Mar 22, 2016

The Golden State Warriors rebounded after a loss to the Spurs, displaying the mental toughness they’ll need to compete for a second straight title.