Defense ailed the Golden State Warriors most again in Sunday's 128-114 loss to the Detroit Pistons.

Golden State fouled the hell out of the Pistons, sending them to the line for a whopping 38 free throws attempts. The Warriors were pounded on the defensive glass at times, resulting in 20 second-chance points. Detroit took easy advantage of miscommunications, half-hearted close-outs and lackadaisical transition defense, racking up a 125.5 offensive rating—by far its highest of the young season.

Do those sweeping problems sound familiar? They've been a driving force behind the Warriors' issues since 2022-23 tipped off, struggles that culminated in a second defeat to lottery-bound opponents in as many days.

Golden State's 3-4 record isn't the sole result of its inability to string together stops, though. As Steve Kerr sees it, defense is just half of the crucial all-court connectivity his team's been unable to muster in the the season's early going.

“We gotta be near the bottom of the league in defensive efficiency right now. It's mostly defense, mostly fouling. We've had some tough rebounding nights,” Kerr said. “But I'm seeing a lot of possessions where the ball's not moving. Ball movement leads to open shots, which leads to everybody being a little bit happier, a little more part of things. That's where you get some grit. You create some easy shots, you get back on defense, you get a stop and you build a pattern within the game.”

Draymond Green homed in on that same dynamic after the game.

“The two ends aren't connecting,” he said. “In order to be a great team they have to connect.”

The Warriors rank 20th in offensive rating and 23rd in defensive rating following Sunday's defeat.

Excuses abound for their slow start to the season on both sides of the ball, and playing the second leg of a back-to-back without both Klay Thompson and Donte DiVincenzo were just the most obvious ones against Detroit. Golden State didn't seem interested in indulging those complications or any others on the postgame podium, defiantly insisting both sides of the ball would improve as the season continues.

Kerr, though, wants to see the sense of urgency needed to jumpstart that progress as soon as possible. Otherwise, the Warriors' lack of two-way cohesion will continue resulting in all-too-casual losses.

“There needs to be a sense as a team, as a group, that here's what we're trying to do. We're trying to string together good offensive possessions and then get back defensively, defend without fouling and do that over and over and over again,” Kerr said. “But right now it's just a pickup game.”