How Golden State's incredible bench scoring is preserving Stephen Curry in his 16th year | The Big Number
Tom Haberstroh and Dan Devine discuss Stephen Curry's incredible 29.1 minutes per game so far in the 2024-2025 season and how that mark is the lowest among all leading scorers in the NBA. The Golden State Warriors 58 points per game coming from its bench players also leads the league, resulting in a combination of efficiency and rest for Curry that is propelling GSW to 2nd place in the Western Conference.
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Video Transcript
How about 29.1.
That's how many minutes per game.
Stephen Curry is averaging through the 1st 11 games of the season, which leads the Warriors and is by my calculations pretty low.
It's south of 30 the only team in the NBA where their leading minutes getter is below 30 points which uh as you note here in our rundown feels pretty Spurs like the version of the Spurs.
That was the latter year.
Tim Duncan Spurs.
Can you talk to me a little bit about that?
All right.
So in 2014, Kawhi Leonard is the finals MVP.
They beat the Miami heat in the finals.
And I think the story for me was how they preserved Tim Duncan, 37 year old Tim Duncan and 31 year old Tony Parker.
These older cats were like, yo, we can't play 36 minutes a night and still be able to be at our best in the finals and pop kept their minutes below 30 minutes a night.
First team ever I believe is the case with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014 and you know who's a big pop fan, Steve Kerr?
Yeah, Brandon PMSy buddy healed Jonathan Kinga for all this stern and drawing about like, is he a starter?
Is he the next star?
Is he would bring him off the bench now playing about 24 minutes a game and you're getting like the best versions of him on and on down the line.
D Anthony Melton Kyle Anderson has been awesome for this team to start.
You have all these different types of pieces that you can use and mix and match in different a of lineups also just like across the board, length, athleticism size wingspan.
Like this is a, it has gone from a roster that was maybe like at different points, sort of a little bit slower, a little bit smaller.
Now, there's a, there's length and athleticism everywhere and when you are creating the kind of deflections and steals that they are, you're getting out in transition and that gets the machine rolling all of a sudden, Stephen Curry's run another win or if buddy heels run to the corner, you're creating that panic that you were talking about.
And I think you can play that way when you've got more dudes who can play.
And the Warriors right now are running like a dozen deep, pretty much every night.
You don't think other teams would want their superstar to be playing 29 minutes a game.
Like you look at KD was averaging a league high 39 minutes per game before he got, got hurt.
Giannis is averaging 36 minutes per game.
Lebron is averaging 36 minutes per game.
I think the, the Spurs were brilliant to make sure that those guys are fresh for the postseason, but it's also about roster construction and Mike Dunleavy Junior has done an excellent job building this roster to preserve that sun by which all of those planets revolve around.