Why Kevin Durant is so Important for the Warriors?

Prayers go out to Kevin Durant and we all hope for his speedy recovery. To understand what KD means to the warriors is like comparing it to why a person would switch from having a Bugatti Veyron (268mph) to the fastest car on earth, The  Hennessey Venom GT(270mph). You want that new car even though you could leave everyone to the dirt with the present one you have.

Enough glossing. Let's get to the problem here. The warriors end up scoring very less when Durant is not on the floor. He has missed only 1 game prior to his injury and when he's not on the floor the scoring efficiency dips quite considerably. Having said that, the warriors create more passes and ball movement when he's not on the floor and that is what is the problem here. One of the main reason why the warriors won 2 years back and made that historic 73 win game season coupled with numerous other records is primarily because of their free flowing style of play which no other team has in the NBA. But what is also their biggest strength also becomes their weakness in a lot of ways because the warriors end up suffering from over thinking things a lot and that results in lack of points on the board. When you over think a play sometimes you lose the opportunity to just score the basket the old fashioned way which is to drive in get a lay up and draw fouls and attack the paint and get offensive rebounds and that is what costed them the NBA title. They in a sense forgot the basics of basketball and decided to be more creative in their way of playing which is not a bad thing but it can render you less effective at the end. 

Also, another problem that the warriors had last season was not dealing with pressure situations the right way. When the warriors were in a tight game or a game that came down to the last shot they often at times went with to the 3 point shooting approach which has at times bailed them out in certain situation but most often than not it has also let slip away the game right from under their arms. This problem, which is their inability to maintain their free flowing style in pressure situations has costed them the game and in one instance, the NBA Championship. 

With Kevin Durant in the lineup he becomes somebody who is not really a playmaker but more of a scoring machine and so he doesn't waste time in making plays for others but rather goes about his business in ensuring that ultimately the points are on the board. He averages 25 points per game and only a measly 3.8 assists per game compared to the other big stars. He's so efficient in scoring that he has led the league in that department 4 times and he's also in an elite club of players who have shot 50% from Field Goal area, 40% from 3pt range and 90% from the Free throw line in a single season. In effect what it does to a team like the warriors is eliminate any past problems they may have had and therefore it essentially integrates everything that they do almost perfectly, their playmaking is balanced with the scoring juggernaut that is Kevin Durant. But without him this season, the warriors end up facing the ghosts from their past once again. It'll definitely be an interesting season going forward because who knows even with Durant back he might not be a 100%.