Warriors Show Slight Improvement But Still Falter in Rough Loss to Bucks
At least it was interesting for about the first two quarters this time.
Three days after the Warriors were run off the floor by the Brooklyn Nets almost as soon as the game had started, Golden State looked better during the first half of their Christmas road contest against the Milwaukee Bucks. Ultimately, the Warriors fell apart in the second half as their mistakes became too much to handle, and the end result was a 138-99 loss that brought the team to an 0-2 record to open the season.
As with any 39-point loss, this game didn’t come down to a single factor. Some of it, unsurprisingly, had to do with the Bucks. They are one of the most complete teams in the NBA and shot exceptionally well, including over 54% from three-point range despite adequate, albeit inconsistent, perimeter defense from the Warriors. But the big problems in this game emerged on the offensive side for Golden State. For the second straight game, the Warriors scored less than 100 points, this time on just 34.3% shooting from the field. They took an absurd 45 threes and made just 10 of them for a rate of 22.2%. A few times, the shot selection was questionable, but they also got plenty of open looks and simply missed. Even when it was clear that the shots weren’t falling, they kept shooting, trying to force their way out of the slump. The clear solution was to attack more inside — they had by far their greatest offensive success of the game when doing so — but they refused, settling for shots they just weren’t making. Whether it’s a matter of coaching or decision making by the players, something has to change in this respect.
The two players that formed the perfect representation of this problem were Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre. Both have struggled mightily to open the season, making only 14 of the 58 combined field goals they’ve attempted. Too often, both have settled for jumpers when their real strengths are slashing and getting to the rim for baskets in the paint. Wiggins has been more successful out of the two in doing so, particularly in Friday’s game, when he had a few really nice drives in the first half. But neither he nor Oubre have done it enough, and both need to hit jumpers at least a little more frequently to keep defenses honest.
On a related note, some of Stephen Curry’s struggles can be attributed to this problem. He hasn’t played as well as he needs to, averaging 19.5 points per game on 34.2% shooting thus far on the year. But he needs his teammates to step up, and nobody needs to step up more than the other two perimeter starters. The three have a symbiotic relationship — Curry succeeding will open up opportunities for Wiggins and Oubre, and Wiggins and Oubre succeeding will draw defensive attention away from Curry, allowing him more space to operate. But right now, none of them are holding up their end of the bargain. The burden isn’t on one player more than the other two. They all need to find a rhythm, which will take time as they play regular season basketball as teammates for the first time.
The most positive development of the first two games of the 2020-2021 season was the play of James Wiseman. He has looked comfortable and confident on offense, scoring both inside and outside with consistency. He has proven capable of making both a breakaway dunk and a three-pointer in a halfcourt set and should get even better as he learns Steve Kerr’s schemes. His defense leaves something to be desired, but on the whole he has exceeded expectations in the season’s early going and seems to have the entire franchise hopeful about his future.
The Warriors still have many other issues to clean up, including rebounding — a problem best exemplified by allowing four Milwaukee offensive rebounds on missed free throws. However, none of this should be seen as a sweeping generalization or prediction about the rest of the Warriors’ season. The only games that they have played so far have been against arguably the two best teams in the Eastern Conference. They did so after the weirdest offseason in franchise history with a team that hasn’t had nearly as much time to practice together as they would in a normal year. Draymond Green, who will be the unquestioned second-best player on the team when he returns, is out with a foot injury. No one should make any judgments about this group until they’ve played at least a few games with a fully healthy roster.
With that in mind, it’s clear that there is a lot of work to be done. For the most part, the Warriors haven’t played to the best of their abilities thus far. There is time to fix the issues at hand, but the clock is ticking and getting louder by the minute.