Kelly Oubre has been an enigma so far this season for the Warriors. After a historically rough start, Oubre has shown glimpses of performing up to the elevated preseason expectations, but has followed that up with perplexingly poor play at times.
In the last 10 games, Oubre is averaging 13.8 points per game, on 41 percent shooting from the field, and 32 percent from deep. While those numbers are below expectations, they extraordinarily are better than the first 10 games of the season, in which he averaged 10.2 points per game, on 34 percent shooting overall and 14 percent from long-range.
However, if you dive deeper into the recent stretch of better production, one thing becomes very apparent: Oubre's performance plays a major factor in the fate of the Warriors.
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Throughout the last 10 games, Oubre has started to become a little less consistently inconsistent. Rather than a sprinkling of good games in a sea of poor ones, Oubre has started to put together a few good games, before succumbing to a rough outing.
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In fact, in this 10-game stretch of late, Oubre really has had three contests in which he struggled mightily. Against the New York Knicks, Utah Jazz, and Phoenix Suns, Oubre combined to average 5.3 points per game, while shooting 16.7 percent from the field, and missing all of his 11 shots from deep. All three games resulted in losses for the Warriors.
Meanwhile, in the other seven games in that same stretch, Oubre has posted an impressive 17.4 points per game, while shooting an outstanding 50 percent overall and 41 percent from 3-point range. Not-so-coincidentally, the Warriors won five of those seven games.
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Steph Curry and Andrew Wiggins have been consistently good to great throughout the season, and yet, the starting lineup and the team has struggled through much of it. If Oubre is to remain a starter and play heavy minutes, he might be the deciding factor that determines whether or not the offense is efficient enough to win games.