The Golden State Warriors suffered their worst loss of the season by way of a 33-point pounding at the hands of the struggling Boston Celtics, losers of four in a row before their primetime tilt at Oracle Arena, with a national audience on TNT.
Yet the Celtics did a little more than just embarrass the Warriors on their home floor, but also exposed them for what they are — a top-heavy team with little depth and a clear lack of the chemistry they once boasted over the course of the season.
Bored, stale, and unmotivated, the Warriors resorted to the usual going through the motions, quickly falling to a 11-0 hole in the opening minutes of the first quarter, a foreshadowing of what would come in a 128-95 loss.
Yet it is difficult to comprehend how this team can look so dominant some days and so vulnerable in others. Golden State has looked mortal for most of last season and all of this one — a lot of that having to do with the bench's clear decline and the bulk of the prowess of this team resting in the starting unit.
The Warriors' All-Star-studded starting lineup has been both a blessing and a curse — blessed to have such a high-octane trio of scorers in Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant, but cursed to have insufficient payroll for a deeper, richer bench — something they once had at the start of their dynasty.
Post All-Star struggles
Golden State has not been anywhere close to the pre-All-Star glory the defending champions enjoyed, winning 16 of their last 18 games before hitting the break.
So what happened?
Since returning from the mid-February festivities, Stephen Curry has struggled mightily with his best weapon, the 3-point shot. He had already been scuffing at the start of February, shooting 36.5 percent in six games last month before the break.
His cold-shooting continued after returning from Charlotte, shooting only 38.1 percent (37-of-97) from deep since coming back from the break. In fact, Curry has shot less than 40 percent from deep in eight of his 13 February contests, largely due to favoring ill-advised pull-up shots and desperate quick triggers in hopes to redeem the Warriors' poor acumen from long-distance.
Curry is far from the only one struggling, as Kevin Durant — once a dripping wet 41.9 percent 3-point shooter last season — is now drier than a raisin, shooting only 30.9 percent since the start of February and 35.6 percent for the season.
DeMarcus Cousins, who was once lauded as the Splash Cousin of this roster with a robust 46.2 percent from deep in his first six games in the uniform, shot a Draymond Green-esque 18.2 percent from distance last month and is 1-of-7 from deep in March.
Not the best look.
A bench that no longer instills fear
The Warriors' bench was once their greatest point of fortitude, proving pivotal in their first championship in 2015 and a clear punch in the mouth in Game 1 of the 2016 NBA Finals, able to deliver the knockout blow to the Cleveland Cavaliers without the need to bring the starting unit back in.
But that Shaun Livingston is no longer the same, now reduced to his patented turnaround mid-range jumpers and largely expected to take those same shots that once surprised opponents, now overly-scouted by the opposition.
Andre Iguodala is clearly aging and no longer the theft fiend that can take a turnover from one end of the court and turn it into an automatic highlight reel, now only showing glimpses of those days when not dealing with the occasional injury.
Instead, the Warriors have put their trust in Quinn Cook, a capable but clearly deficient defender; Alfonzo McKinnie, a once-promising, but now lackluster support player; and Jonas Jerebko, a floor spacer that has failed to be the big-man sniper they hoped for him to be.
Teams like the Celtics, who might as well have majored in scouting weaknesses — have taken full notice of these struggles — and like they did on Tuesday, can dole out all sorts of pain for a team that overly relies in its starting unit to do the work.
The urge to incorporate DeMarcus Cousins
Cousins is not all of the Warriors' problems, but he is one of the many, as the team must first learn to incorporate him on both sides of the ball before tending to smaller matters before the postseason.
The Boogie-man strung together three 20-plus-point games before the 10-point letdown against the Celtics, but he's yet to figure it out on defense — partly due to the need to regain his speed and explosiveness after a year-long Achilles injury.
That will come in time, but the 6-foot-11 big dipper must first get the defensive concepts and communication down pat and then let his body follow.
Furthermore, there's been a recent semblance of his ill-advised temper, as irritants like Aron Baynes know how to get in Cousins' head without doing much talking. On Tuesday night, Baynes played him tough at first, then relaxed for several charge calls, which only frustrated the power big man, earning him a late fourth-quarter technical.
If Golden State is to make a deep run come playoff-time, Cousins will need to be on his best behavior and learn how to deal with the likes of Baynes.
A drop of mana in the midst of an arid desert
The addition of Andrew Bogut should prove a boon for this Warriors team, devoid of motivation and forgetful of the beautiful brand of basketball that once made them the league's darling team before becoming the public enemy after Durant's signing.
Bogut is still every bit of the fundamentalist he was before he was traded by the Warriors, a 7-foot behemoth capable of setting bulldozing screens and dropping nifty backdoor dimes like a 6-foot guard would in traffic.
The Aussie big man won't start as he once did, but he will be the joyous reminder of what it's like to play the right way, steering the likes of Curry, Durant, and Cousins away from the one-on-one play they've engaged on lately, and giving them a sample of the fun-loving team basketball that can rain ruthless pain to the opposition.
. . .
The Celtics have already laid out the blueprint on how to best the Warriors and if they were being honest (and they have been), Golden State would not want to see this team in the NBA Finals.
But basketball is a game of adjustments, and Steve Kerr has proven capable of making them when they matter most.
The Warriors recently extended Kerr's contract and expect him to earn it in this — the most challenging season of them all — in a quest for a three-peat before this roster dissolves as many expect it will.
Regaining the much-inspired “joy” with a healthy dose of ruthlessness should prove the perfect antidote for the disease that has plagued this roster into a predictable juggernaut.
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