Warriors' 20-game report card to begin 2025-26 NBA season: Very average originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Getting through 82 games before the playoffs even begin always is a marathon for every team in the NBA. The first 20 games of the 2025-26 season for the Warriors, though, were a full-on sprint.
The Warriors, in their first 17 games as they ended a six-game road trip, already had gone through five back-to-backs before anybody else played three. The Rockets hadn’t been hit with any back-to-backs yet. On the day the Warriors played their 12th road game, the Rockets played their 13th game overall.
Houston also served as Golden State’s 20th game of the season Wednesday night. For the Rockets, it was just their 16th game.
Context is required to grade what the first 20 games have been for the Warriors. There also is no point in sugar-coating the product. The Warriors now are 10-10 after a bad loss against a Kevin Durant-less Rockets, making them the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.
“I’ll tell ya after tonight,” Steve Kerr said Wednesday during his pregame press conference when asked about assessing his team.
His answer after the loss was much more revealing.
Offense
In the Warriors’ three combined wins against the Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs, Steph Curry averaged 45.7 points per game. He totaled 137 points. Those are more examples of what Curry still is capable of.
And they also are more examples of how reliant the Warriors’ offense remains on Curry. But Curry only scored 25 total points in the Warriors’ losses against the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Rockets.
Jimmy Butler continues to show what a great complement to Curry he is. Butler ranks second on the Warriors in points per game (20.0), assists per game (4.9) and field goal percentage (53.1 percent), and leads in 3-point percentage (45.9) and offensive rebounds per game (2.2).
As a whole, though, the Warriors’ offense has been littered with issues. They rank first in 3-pointers made per game (16.1) and are eighth in assists per game (27.4). Everything else is average or below after that. That includes a 113.2 offensive rating that ranks 22nd in the league while being 21st in points per game at 115.1.
Shooting hasn’t been good enough. The Warriors rank 23rd in field goal percentage (45.3 percent), 13th in 3-point percentage (36.4 percent) and 13th in true shooting percentage (58.8 percent) as Buddy Hield shoots a career-worst 31 percent on threes. It’s not like the Warriors own the paint either (29th, 41.1 points in the paint per game) and are 20th in offensive rebound percentage (29.3 percent).
A team that clearly has way too many leaks and cracks offensively has committed the most turnovers in the game, ranking 25th in turnovers per game (16.6).
*All stats are through Nov. 26 and current as of Thanksgiving morning.
Grade: D+
Defense
More often than not, players are salivating at taking the Warriors’ defense to work. Here’s a list of players who already have scored career highs against the Warriors this season: Ryan Rollins (32 points), Reed Sheppard (31 points), Aaron Nesmith (31 points), Caleb Love (26 points) and Quenton Jackson (25 points).
The numbers have the Warriors with the 10th-best defensive rating (112.2), and rank 12th in opponents points per game (114.5). Opponents are shooting 46.7 percent against them (15th) and 34.7 percent beyond the arc (seventh). Watching the game and how disconnected the Warriors’ defense feels tells us something different.
“Our defense is s–t,” Draymond Green said Wednesday night. “Because it’s not necessarily the numbers. How do you feel when you’re out there? And if it’s just letdown after letdown, it’s bigger than numbers.”
His comments came right after Butler let the Warriors’ defense have it, too.
“We don’t box out. We don’t go with the scouting report. We let anybody do whatever they want. Drives, get into the paint, free throws – it’s just sad,” Butler said.
*All stats are through Nov. 26 and current as of Thanksgiving morning.
Grade: C-
Stars
The numbers and eye test tell the same story.
Curry is playing 31.1 minutes per game, which would be a career low for a full season, and he’s still averaging 27.9 points per game with a 64.1 true shooting percentage. He has played 16 games and scored 30 or more points in seven of them, including three 40-plus games. Curry isn’t the problem.
Butler is back to averaging 20 points per game and is doing so incredibly efficiently. From all three levels – 2-pointers, 3-pointers and free throws – Butler has been methodically picking apart defense. He is making 54.7 percent of his twos while shooting the best he ever has from deep, and Butler is shooting a career-best 87.1 percent at the free-throw line on 7.7 attempts per game.
He also isn’t the problem, and neither is Green. The Warriors have a 107.2 defensive rating with Green, and a 118.3 defensive rating without him. Their offensive rating is 117.3 when he’s on the floor, and it’s just 111.2 when he’s off it.
Grade: A-
Additions
Let’s first run through who the additions to this season’s Warriors team are.
Gary Payton II was re-signed, so he can’t be considered one. Jonathan Kuminga’s restricted free agency eventually ended with him remaining a Warrior, so he isn’t part of the list. Neither is Alex Toohey, the Warriors’ top draft pick who hasn’t played any games because of an ankle injury and likely will spend the entire season in the G League anyway.
That essentially leaves three players: Al Horford, Will Richard and De’Anthony Melton. Yes, Melton played for the Warriors last season, but only for six games and he technically was traded to add Dennis Schroder last December. We’re adding him to the list, but he still hasn’t played a game this season while continuing to rehab from ACL surgery.
As a late second-round draft pick, Richard already has been better than expected. Richard has started eight games and is playing 18.3 minutes per game, which ranks eighth on the Warriors. Seventh is Horford, who mostly has been bad all season. Horford has looked his age, 39, and is only shooting 32 percent from 3-point range.
Adding a healthy Melton should be huge for the Warriors. Seth Curry’s eventual signing will help with shooting as well. But Horford’s disappointing start has hurt the Warriors, and this grade would be even lower if it weren’t for Richard.
Grade: C-
Youth
Can Kuminga and Moses Moody still be here in Year 5? Since the Warriors are so dependent on three players that are 35, 36 and 37 years old, and because Kuminga and Moody still are only 23, this will be their last as part of the category.
The start to the season was about as perfect as could be for Kuminga after what was a tough offseason in restricted free agency. Kuminga showed improvements in all the areas the Warriors wanted and averaged 16.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game during the Warriors’ 4-1 start. But as the Warriors started to slide and Kuminga reverted to some old habits, he was back on the bench by the 13th game.
There have been signs of Moody taking the leap. A big game can be followed by a handful of inconsistent performances, which is what other young players like Brandin Podziemski and Quinten Post have been. Trayce Jackson-Davis is at the bottom of the rotation, and Richard might be the most trusted of the bunch.
To keep it blunt, the youth of the Warriors haven’t shown they can propel the veterans enough to be taken seriously as a threat around the league.
Grade: C-
Health
Everything changes when Curry limps down the tunnel and to the Warriors’ locker room. That was the scene Wednesday night, and Curry officially has been diagnosed with a quad contusion and muscle strain. He’ll be re-evaluated in one week and will miss at least three games.
Payton in the same game exited in the first half because of a sprained ankle. Kuminga has missed seven straight games because of knee tendonitis, and Horford is shelved right now with right sciatic nerve irritation.
The bumps and bruises haven’t been big enough to threaten an entire season. However, they’re starting to pile up already and Rick Celebrini is guaranteed to be a busy man all season long.
Grade: C+
Overall
Now it’s time for Ker’s honest answer when I asked him about the identity of the team as it currently stands.
“The identity? Well, what did Bill Parcells say? You are what your record says you are. We’re 10-10, we’re an average team,” Kerr said. “I think we have the potential for much more, and it’s my job as coach to help these guys find that rhythm that can give us some juice, some separation, some confidence. I believe in them.
“I believe in our guys. I believe in our continuity that we’ve got from not only last year, but with Steph and Dray for 14 years. So I believe in the guys. We’ve just got to keep working and we’ll get there.”
The Warriors through 20 games have two two-game win streaks and one three-game win streak. Simultaneously, they have two two-game losing streaks and one three-game losing streak. They’ve also pulled out more worrisome losses than impressive wins.
“When we’re making shots, oh man, we’re celebrating, we’re cheering, we’re doing all those things. When we’re not, and when the game’s not going our way, we put our head down and we mope,” Butler said. “And then we don’t box out, we don’t get back and we foul. … Some people call it frontrunning.”
It has been an average product, and that shouldn’t be the case with who Curry, Butler and Green still have been. This is who the Warriors are, for now. But first, they’ll have to overcome at least a couple games without Curry.
Grade: C
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Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images
Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images
Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images