Contextualizing the Warriors' Last 9 Games
After tonight’s overtime loss to the shell of the Indiana Pacers (Indy was missing a few key starters tonight), the Warriors now fall to 3-6 in their last 9 games. It’s been a rough winter, and the phrase “when it rains, it pours” would probably be pretty fitting to describe the issues the team has had, although many of them are just some tough circumstances more than anything.
Draymond Green has missed time with a calf issue that is tied to an issue with a disc in his back. Steph Curry was struggling a bit before he nailed the all-time three-point record, and has continued to struggle through a turbulent December and January (although it should be noted he played well enough tonight, putting up 39 points and 8 assists on 44/37/100 splits and having a very solid 4th quarter to get the Warriors back in it). Klay Thompson has just returned from injury, and needs to be worked back into the rotation.
The Warriors have had some schedule woes recently as well. The team, until recently, was on a long road-trip before finally returning to the home-court in San Francisco. Tonight is the start of their second back-to-back in that span (they’ve played a ton of those this season already). In that road stretch, they played the Bucks, the Grizzlies, and the Bulls, all very good teams towards the top of their conferences.
The team itself has not shot very well, with Curry not being the only one slumping. Jordan Poole has shot 34% from the field in that stretch, 27% from the arc in particular. Gary Payton II has missed time, two-way contract guy Chris Chiozza has gotten a lot of minutes due to rotation shortages, Andre Iguodala has been in-and-out of the line-up with injury prevention, and Kevon Looney, while playing great, is turning the ball over a lot.
There are some bright spots, however. In his last two games, Steph Curry has averaged 28 points per game on 47% from the field, 41% from three while launching 12 a game. He’s also averaged 8 assists per game in that stretch. He’s got the ball in his hands a lot more, and is starting to look more and more like the old Steph. Jonathan Kuminga is now in the rotation and playing meaningful minutes with some consistency on his shot. Looney is damn-near averaging a double-double. And despite all their woes, Golden State remains with the best defensive rating in the NBA.
The Dubs have a solid stretch of the schedule coming up where they can get back to their groove. Look for new offensive ideas from Steve Kerr, more on-ball Steph minutes, and just an overall increase in the team energy as we get closer to the All-Star break. Historically, the Warriors play their best regular season ball towards the end, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see this slump be long-winded history by the time playoff seeding races roll around.
(Photo credit: Jonathan Ferrey / Getty Images)