Programming note: Watch the pregame edition of Warriors Outsiders Tuesday night at 6 p.m. PT streaming live on the MyTeams app.
When the Warriors won the championship in 2015, they averaged 27 3-point attempts per game -- 4th most in the NBA.
When the Warriors won the championship in 2015, they played at a pace of 99.29 possessions per 48 minutes -- the fastest in the NBA.
Here is where Golden State ranks in those two categories this season:
-32.1 3-point attempts -- 12th most
-Pace of 101.57 -- 10th fastest
The Warriors' coaching staff is well aware of the trends.
"The league has basically modeled themselves after the Warriors championship teams from 2-3-4 years ago, in terms of pace and 3-point shooting," assistant coach Mike Brown said on 95.7 The Game on Monday morning. "And then the ability to play small.
"The rest of the league is catching up and that's why we have to continue to evolve and try different things throughout the course of the season so we can stay ahead of everybody."
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Speaking of trying different things -- over the last 10 games, Steve Kerr has tweaked the rotation as it relates to when Steph Curry is on the floor. Historically, the two-time MVP played the whole first quarter, the last 6-7 minutes of the second quarter, the whole third quarter and the last 6-7 minutes of the fourth quarter (depending on the score).
But now, Kerr is staggering things so either Curry or Kevin Durant is on the floor at all times. This means Curry heads to the bench with about four minutes left in the first quarter. He then starts the second period, comes out for a 2-3 minute stretch midway through and then closes the period. The same formula is repeated in the second half (well, except for Saturday night in Sacramento).
When Kerr was asked about this change prior to Saturday's game vs the Kings, he told reporters: "We're in the middle of the season -- we're exploring a lot of different things."
Boom. This is directly tied to Brown's comments about evolving and attempting to stay ahead of the curve. Kerr has made it clear that he doesn't want the Warriors to jack up 40 triples a night (like Houston), and Kevin Durant is on the same page as his head coach.
[RELATED: Kevin Durant did something that hadn't been seen in NBA in over four years]
"I'd rather play inside the 3-point line but you gotta adapt," Durant told reporters after the win over the Kings. "I don't see this lasting too much longer -- just the volume of 3s. The way the game is played -- pickup style. It'll cease here in a second, but a lot of guys are adjusting their games to the times.
"It's fun for the fans and it's fun for us sometimes. But it's also tough to watch and tough to play against. But hey, that's what we signed up for."
The Warriors don't want to copy the rest of the league. It's better when it's the other way around...
Drew Shiller is the co-host of Warriors Outsiders. Follow him on Twitter @DrewShiller
