Midway through the second quarter of the Warriors’ 121-103 win over the Dallas Mavericks, Warriors forward David West got position deep underneath the basket with Mavericks center Salah Mejri draped all over him.
With his team down nine points, West, who finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds in 17 minutes, used a drop step and calmly laid in his sixth point of the game.
West’s layup sparked a 23-14 Warriors spurt to close the half, and helped cement their first win in nearly a week.
It also further solidified West’s role as a stabilizing force in the team’s second unit.
While the Warriors bench scored 39 points Thursday evening, the unit is at the bottom half of league standings in points scored (20th), and three-point shooting percentage (25th). However, the numbers have been par for the course since coach Steve Kerr was hired in 2014.
Since Kerr’s been at the helm, the Warriors have routinely been in the middle of the pack in bench scoring, faring no higher than 14th in the category over the last four years.
However, this year’s rendition of the unit features proven bench contributors like guard Nick Young and forward Omri Casspi, two players signed to provide a spark.
The additions have been lukewarm at best thus far. Young, who signed a 1-year, $5.2-million deal in the offseason, is averaging just 6.5 points per game. Young had come off of a productive year for the Los Angeles Lakers, averaging 13.2 points per game, while shooting a career-high 40% from three-point range, providing a strong offensive presence as the team’s starting shooting guard.
Aside from Young’s opening night performance of 23 points against the Houston Rockets, a game in which he hit six threes, the 10-year guard has struggled to fit in the Warriors defensive system, posting a 107.1 defensive rating.
On the other hand, while Casspi provides the basketball IQ and capable three-point shooting necessary to flourish in Kerr’s offense, he’s found himself out of the rotation in recent games.
On Thursday evening, the unit provided some life, as 13-year guard Andre Iguodala scored 5 points, while the team enjoyed a +26 advantage while he was on the floor. Third-year forward Kevon Looney chipped in six points.
For Kerr, performances from the bench have more to do with quality over quantity.
“Every game is different,” Kerr said, “We just try to figure out what we need to win that game and some nights we score a lot off the bench some nights we don’t, it doesn’t really matter unless we play well as a team.”
West, the team’s most consistent bench scorer may have provided a credo of how the bench unit can provide a spark as the team strives towards its second straight championship.
“Just being stable,” West said. “Not being all over the place, just being very steady, just trying to change the dynamics of the game. That’s all we tried to do.”