Golden State Warriors: Week 19 Recap

Every year, as the playoffs began, my high school coach used to tell us that our house was on fire. And if we wanted to put the fire out, every player would need to carry their own water. Each person’s bucket was different. Some of the girls who moved up from junior varsity had smaller buckets, while our leading scorer’s bucket was massive. Our defensive stopper’s bucket was almost as big as the leading scorers bucket. And if one person didn’t carry their bucket, our house(season) would burn down.

Right now, the Golden State Warriors’ house is on fire. With a 13-48 record, every abled body Dub is trying to carry their water. And they are doing their best. Every night a different person steps up, showing their ability and drive to compete.

Some nights it’s Jordan Poole, who has recently found his confidence and stroke. Other nights it’s Juan Toscano-Anderson, showing his ability to get downhill and find the open man on kick-outs. Most nights though, it has been Andrew Wiggins-- who has shown his natural abilities as a scorer and is fitting into Kerr’s offense effortlessly.

On just about all nights, though, it’s not enough. You see when the house is on fire, it’s hard to expect someone to pick up a bucket they aren’t ready for. The water that the Splash Brothers usually drain is not easy to carry, and we’re seeing that. But with that said, we are also seeing a group willing and ready to contribute once Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson returns.

We see those bright spots every game, no matter the outcome.

In their 112-94 defeat against the Sacramento Kings, Marquese Chriss had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Golden State. Coming into the season Chriss was an experiment that Draymond Green and Curry had lobbied for for the front office to keep. Now, Chriss is on a full contract, learning the system, and has bought into the culture-- giving maximum effort night in and night out.

In their game against the Lakers, Eric Paschall, Damion Lee, and Jordan Poole were bright spots-- all scoring over 15 points.

All was well until Draymond Green, returning to the lineup after a two-game absence, got himself ejected and strolled into the locker room.

Late in a forgettable fourth quarter, the Lakers were running the Warriors off the floor and the Chase Center crowd was roaring its approval.

You read that right.

Ten minutes after that, a very audible "M-V-P" chant echoed through the building as Lakers reserve Alex Caruso, a cult figure of sorts, was standing at the line to shoot free throws.

So yeah, we’re not going to talk much about that game.

"You gotta win once in a while," Kerr said. "It sounds like I'm making a joke, but it's really the truth. What I've found over the course of this year is we absolutely feel satisfaction from watching young players grow, working with them. But you gotta win one (game). You get to five, six, seven (losses) in a row and all of a sudden, it's like, ‘C'mon.' It's miserable losing. You need to win one to keep things going, to keep things fresh, to let everybody breathe and feel good about things.”

"We're at that stage right now. It's been seven in a row. We need to win."

Thankfully, the squad heard Kerr and found a way to get it done in Phoenix-- basically killing the Suns’ playoff hopes.

In their 115-99 defeat of Devin Booker and crew, the Warriors penned their second game of the calendar year holding a team to under 100 points. They did so through committee.

One of the keys to their defensive successes, and to the game,  was limiting Suns’ All-Star guard Devin Booker. The Warriors were able to limit Booker, forcing him to shoot just 6-for-16 from the field.

On their side, it was Damion Lee and Eric Paschall that took their game to the next level. Paschall ended with a game-high 25 points, shooting 10-for-16 from the field. His efficiency and grit are what helped take the Warriors’ play to the next level. 

Along with that seven out of the eight players who suited up for the game finished with double digits, including former Suns Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss. Looney, Mulder, and Wiggins were the other five to notch double figures.

The Warriors finished the week in the Bay area, hosting the Washington Wizards. As the week started, many believed that the Wizards matchup was going to be the return of Warriors superstar Stephen Curry.

Curry had missed 54 games with a broken left hand. The two-time MVP, three-time NBA champion and six-time All-Star sustained the injury in the fourth game of the season against the Phoenix Suns.

Well, Sunday added 55 games to that missed game total, as the Warriors decided to hold Curry out. 

"He was not thrilled, but Steph is always very rational and easy to speak with," Kerr told reporters. "He put up a little bit of a fight, but also understood why we wanted to take extra precaution so he's okay with it."

With no Curry, the Dubs went into Sunday night’s matchup with just eight available players for the second night in a row. And it showed.

For a full four months now, coach Steve Kerr has implored his underdog team to play with effort, citing it as necessary to narrow the talent discrepancy.

They did Sunday night, but it didn’t last. After a solid 24 minutes, they went into the locker room trailing 63-57, looking nothing like a team on the second night of a back-to-back set.

The Warriors then faded badly after halftime, particularly on defense, as Washington rang up 61 points. The Wizards pulled away on the power of a 31-19 third quarter.

This is what you can get when a roster is so depleted. They didn’t hold up, which surely had as much to do with having only eight available players for the second consecutive game on the back end of a back to back.

Moving forward, the Warriors will continue to employ their grit and grind mentality as they are set to play a  trio of playoff teams.

The Warriors will have a “Finals rematch” against the Toronto Raptors in San Francisco Thursday. Saturday they’ll host Joel Embiid and the 76ers-- so hopefully the Dubs make a good impression on the Troll King ahead of free agency. 

Before we can get there, the Warriors will travel to Denver to face the second-best team in the West.

You can catch that matchup Tuesday night at 6 PST on NBC Bay Area.