Kelly Oubre Jr.’s experience has been a roller coaster ride since he first wore the Warriors shirt a few months ago.
He had a historically difficult start, but showed glimpses of the player that the Warriors thought they were receiving during the free agency. Think about when the roller coaster is going up the slope towards the peak. But then, as roller coasters do, their performance would collapse.
But, the biggest lesson of the Oubre season so far is that when he’s on, he’s great for the Warriors and how he relates to the Warriors’ performance.
Against the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, Oubre had a career night, scoring 40 points out of 14 out of 21 shots, including 7 out of 10. He scored 22 points in the first half alone – drawing his biggest career record with more points in half – just a week after scoring the best of his career with 16 points in a quarter. And the Warriors not only won, they blew up the Mavs by 147-116 and did so without a real center.
“I think this is happening,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr told the media at a post-game Zoom conference. “Obviously, for Kelly, it was a difficult first quarter of the season. And yet, within that period, he played some excellent games for us. He played very well at times, he only had a few really bad shooting nights during that period. people got stuck. But Kelly is getting more comfortable. The guys in the locker room love him and want to help him stay comfortable. This was obviously a great night for him. “
Seeing Oubre explode as he did was a sign of relief for Warriors fans as well as Warrior fans. But the most encouraging aspect of Oubre’s game is how comfortable he looked on the court and his ability to play alongside Steph Curry – which was once a problem area.
But Thursday night, everything went well. As Oubre said in “Warriors Postgame Live”, Dallas was big, but the Warriors had speed. Oubre also had speed after the game – leaving the locker room and on the team’s bus 20 minutes after the end of the game.
But back to the game. This is far from the first time that Oubre has played in a small ball team. That’s when he played his best basketball with the Phoenix Suns in recent seasons.
“I think, honestly, I think this style fits everyone better,” Kerr told the media after the game. “When the game is like this, it gets so loose and up and down that it almost feels like the Summer League. I think everyone feels more comfortable in a small game, where there is a lot of space and space to roam.”
With James Wiseman being reevaluated in about five days and Kevon Looney gone for at least two weeks, the Warriors will depend on the small ball for at least the rest of their Texas trip against the Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs.
In those three remaining games – one more against the Mavericks and two against the Spurs – it will be vital for Oubre to match the energy with which he played Thursday. No, he doesn’t need to have 40 points again. Fifteen points a night would be enough. But the same intensity – intensity that led Oubre to block Boban Marjanovic from 2 meters high – needs to be present.
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This game could be the spark for Oubre on the next straight, and after the return of Wiseman and Looney. It will be difficult to play with the speed that the Warriors had against Dallas. But aspects of this game need to be reapplied when the Warriors have more typical five-man lineups.
The Warriors need to keep the ball and body movement they had against the Mavs moving forward, and when that happens, Oubre usually plays better.
Oubre has had so many peaks and valleys so far, and we’re only a quarter of the way through the season. But if the game of his career showed anything, it is that he can succeed in this team, and when he does, the group is better.
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