Sorry, haters: The Warriors are on pace for 73 wins again

When Kevin Durant joined the Golden State Warriors this offseason, no one was sure exactly how well (or how quickly) it would work. Everyone knew he would make the Warriors more dangerous offensively, but how would everything else come into play? Could the team defend with the departures of Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezili? Would Draymond Green handle a drop in his shot attempts? How would Klay Thompson deal with all this?

We've seen teams fall apart before when the chemistry is off, and no one knew how this would all play out.

Well, through 18 games, it's all playing out really, really well for the Warriors. They're 16-2 and on pace for 73 wins … again. And they're looking so, so good doing it.

A big question for the Warriors coming into the season was how they would figure out a way to play Stephen Curry and Durant and get them all the shots they needed. They've each made a bit of a sacrifice, I guess - Curry is attempting ten 3-pointers a game this season, as opposed to the 11 attempts he averaged last year. Durant's taking a couple fewer shots a game, but his 3-point shooting percentage is up, as he's getting a lot more open looks in this offense. Klay Thompson's shots per game? The same. Draymond's? Roughly the same.

How are they able to do this? For one, they're producing a lot of shot attempts. But they're able to do this mostly because Steve Kerr is an excellent coach, he's figuring out how to appropriately stagger his team's minutes, and he's been blessed with a second unit that's happy to sacrifice offense.

When you have Curry, Durant and Thompson on the same team, it's almost an embarrassment of riches - there's only one basketball to shoot every time down the court, and so on any given possession for the Warriors, at least two of the ten best shooters alive aren't taking a shot.

What Kerr has figured out is that there never has to be a time when both Curry and Durant are on the bench. Take last game against the Hawks - both Curry and Durant start the game. With five minutes left in the corner, Durant checks out and gets a few minutes rest while Curry continues to run the offense. Then, to close out the quarter and start the second quarter, Durant is refreshed and ready to run the offense with the second unit, while Curry gets a blow.

This all can work because the Warriors are blessed with a second unit that doesn't care much about scoring. Andre Iguodala is perhaps the most overqualified player in the league for his role, but at this point he's fine averaging 5 points a night and doing all the other stuff for his team. Javale McGee is so happy to have a team, he's not going to complain about taking less than 3 shot attempts a game. (He better not complain, that is.) Zaza Pachulia doesn't need shots. Shaun Livingston and David West can pitch in offense when it's needed, but both are comfortable in their roles and comfortable deferring to Durant and Curry.

Basically, the whole thing is working right now. The concerns about sharing the ball aren't really concerns when the coach has figured out how to stagger the minutes and get everyone his looks. And the defense is starting to come together - Pachulia is growing into his role as a rim protector, and Green is still one of the better defenders in the league. (Durant is also showing some mettle on the defensive end, which should terrify everyone.)

The concerns about the Warriors were real concerns heading into this season, but they're turning out to be unfounded. This team may not win 73 games again - last year was a special year - but they will be seriously, seriously good. And if they keep improving on the defensive end, they're only going to get better.