Warriors Implode Late in Ugly Collapse, Suffer Close Loss to Thunder
The Golden State Warriors are inexperienced. The Golden State Warriors are depleted. Those two facts came together in horrendous fashion at the end of a 100-97 home loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, dropping the Warriors to 3-15 on the season.
The Warriors led by 14 points with under nine minutes to go. Their inexperience prevented them from holding that lead. With no veteran leader to turn to, no one could figure out how to close the game as the Warriors played some of the worst crunch-time basketball you’ll ever see played on an NBA court. Simply put, they cracked under the pressure of leading late and fell apart. Any one of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green could have guided this young team and helped them to avoid blowing a lead. On previous teams, Andre Iguodala or Shaun Livingston also could have served that role. With the former three injured and the latter two departed, no player was able to serve as that calming force.
Their depletion, on the other hand, prevented them from being able to eke out a win once the lead had been blown. The myriad of injuries means that the Warriors currently have zero healthy players who are used to taking over late in games. Once again, Curry, Thompson or even D’Angelo Russell could fill this role when they are available. Once again, they were of no help by sitting on the sideline. Instead, as the Thunder turned on the defensive pressure, the offense stagnated. No one had the killer instinct as shots were forced, players got lazy and the ball failed to move. On the final possession of the game, trailing by three, the Warriors did almost nothing in the interest of getting an open look from beyond the arc. Some of this can be chalked up to coaching and strategy, but most of it is about the Warrior players simply not knowing what to do in the situation they were given.
The late-game defense wasn’t great either—Chris Paul and friends found themselves open too often in the final few minutes—but that shouldn’t have had to matter. The Warriors had an opportunity to get a much-needed win. After so many close losses, it was in their grasp. Instead, they crumbled and blew it, and the blame can be placed almost solely on the offensive end.
What’s particularly infuriating about this loss is the fact that a number of players played extremely well. Glenn Robinson III (25 points) and Ky Bowman (24 points) both set career highs in scoring. Eric Paschall picked up a double-double by dropping 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Marquese Chriss stuffed the stat sheet with six points, five rebounds, a game-high seven assists, two blocks and a steal. Though his struggles from the field continue (3-for-13), Jordan Poole hit two huge fourth-quarter threes. Both buckets came off the catch, when he had time to set his feet and get squared up. Amidst all of his issues with finding the bottom of the net, shots like those two offer hope for his future. He has potential as a shooter, spot-up or otherwise, if he develops his mechanics.
The Warriors are now 0-3 on the season against the Thunder, but the three games offer an interesting look at the arc of the season thus far. In the first game in Oklahoma City, the Dubs got blown out. In the second game, also on the road, they kept it close. They fell behind by a lot, and they never led for long stretches, but they made the game interesting. At home on Monday night, they led most of the way, should have won, and lost in painful fashion. It’s an indicator of what this team has shown throughout the year: obvious improvement, but failure to turn that improvement into wins.
The Warriors have the worst record in the Western Conference by a wide margin and the worst record in the NBA by a narrow margin. They aren’t getting run off the floor on a regular basis, but they aren’t coming out on top of those close games either.
Once again, we revisit their inexperience and their thin roster. Those two traits within the current lineup means that the healthy players have to play together, scrap and grind, and never take any result in a game for granted. Their situation has allowed them to consistently fight and battle and keep games close even when they shouldn’t be. It’s also prevented them from winning those same games.
One day, these very same players who blew the game against the Thunder on Monday night will be faced with a similar scenario and they’ll manage to get the job done and slam the door shut to pull out a win. But as the game against the Thunder on Monday night shows us, they still have a long way to go before they can do that.