This version of the Warriors always needed something. Its formula relied heavily on elite defense and the magic of Stephen Curry, with little else in the way of dependable offense; even when it exploded out of the gate with a 12-3 start, Golden State scored at a bottom-five clip whenever Steph took a seat.
That was the idea behind the Warriors’ mid-December trade for Dennis Schröder: to try to inject new life into what had become a bottom-third offense and to make the latest in a long line of attempts to stanch the bleeding whenever Curry stepped away.