Week 3 Recap and a Look Ahead
Last year if you told Steve Kerr that he would be without his starting backcourt, defensive player of the year, and have a 2-8 record, he probably would've struggled you off.
This year, that is a reality for the decorated coach and, albeit some growing pains, Kerr has found a way to wrinkle out as many positives as possible from the group that has been dubbed “Paschall and the Santa Cruz Warriors,” (you all know that Twitter holds no prisoners).
Coming into the week, the Dubs opened up against the Portland Trail Blazers— a team that has been on the other side of Golden State’s historic run for basically the entire run.
If you missed that run, it featured the Warriors nearly sweeping the Blazers in a series in which Stephen Curry returned from injury and hit Portland up for 40 in 2016; the famous “I’m trying Jennifer” saga of 2017 and a first round sweep; and another sweep in 2019.
To say the least, the Trail Blazers are fed up with the Warriors— like the rest of the league. Considering the Dubs we're down to nine players you expected Damien Lillard and crew to be able to exact the revenge they've been waiting for.
Instead, Lillard was out fueled by rookie Eric Paschall— who was celebrating his birthday along with with a 34 point 13 rebound type of night.
The Warriors grit and team defense seemed to have turned a corner that they had not been close to for much of the season, as they pulled off what felt like an upset of the century—bringing back the classic “I'm trying Jennifer” meme.
Aside from the already built storyline that came with Portland, the win also brought a sense of growth for the young group. Prior to their matchup against the Blazers, the team had struggled to defend in space and execute late in games. Again, both aspects were not as consistent as Kerr may have preferred, but they were good enough to get the win.
Moving ahead, those same aspects did not transfer to the following matchup against the Houston Rockets— another team with a long Twitter posting, sign hitting, multiple season ending history with the Dubs.
Houston’s James Harden did not hold any blows as he erupted scoring 36 points and 13 assists—sending the depleted Warriors to Minnesota with their sixth loss in eight games.
Alec Burks led Golden State with 28 points. Eric Paschall had 19 points, and Glenn Robinson III added 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Before Curry’s injury, the team’s role players were struggling to score in the double digits—creating stalled offense for a team that's defense was not at the stage to afford low scoring outputs.
Even though the Dubs ended up losing the game by 17, the young group fought until the mid-fourth quarter. Something that carried over to Friday's matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Friday was all star D’Angelo Russell's first game back since spraining his ankle against the San Antonio Spurs the week before. Russell was expected to provide the scoring punch that Golden State was missing in their previous games— and he did just that.
Russell not only led the team in scoring, but he scored a career high 52 points leading the Warriors into overtime. But the team's Achilles heel has been defense, and Friday was no different.
In overtime the Dubs struggled to put together timely stops— letting Andrew Wiggins have his way. The Warriors lost another tough game behind their inability to execute, on both ends, down the stretch.
Saturday night the Dubs faced off against the OKC Thunder— A team they've already faced and had a bad showing against this year.
The game started off similar to their previous matchup with OKC sprinting out to a large lead early in the first half. The Warriors managed to get the game back in reach, knotting it up at 78 all late in the third.
They did so behind defense and offensive execution. And they also lost their momentum behind their defense and offensive execution—or lack thereof. The Dubs lost another close game, dropping to 2-8 on the season.
The record in itself is a negative that has been built on injuries and lack of discipline. With that being said, the young Dubs are having to learn how to be pros, execute, and win on the fly because of the injuries to their veterans.
The positive is that you can see that growth. From game one to game ten, each player has improved in their role—giving a glimpse into what next year could look like once the Splash Brothers, Looney, Green, and Evans return.
If the young guns can build on the glimpses of defensive foundation they've shown this past week and create a gritty hardnose type of identity, the Warriors can be extremely deep next year— similar to the 2014-15 team that started the run.
For now they must be patient and trust the process. A lot of these games will be tools for Kerr to use to teach in practice. Lessons that will help down the road. For a young team, growing pains are expected. Kerr knows this much.
“I'm proud of the effort,” Kerr said following Saturday's loss. “But we gotta clean up some of the mistakes. We're making all types of defensive errors, game plan errors— errors that young teams will make. But young teams have to fix those errors in order to grow. That's the goal here as we move forward.”
The Dubs will have an opportunity to inch closer to that goal Monday night against the Utah Jazz. The Jazz are rolling right now, coming off of back to back wins against two of the league's heavy weights.
The Warriors will have to lock in on perimeter defense and compete on the boards to have a chance Monday night, let alone win.
Following Monday's action, the Warriors will then take a trip to visit LeBron James and the Lakers— yet another rich storyline that has been broken with Curry’s hand.
Friday the Dubs will welcome Kemba Walker and the Celtics to the Bay, following a Sunday matchup against Lonzo Ball and the New Orlean Pelicans.