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It's all doom and gloom in Golden State to start the season. The Warriors have yet to win a road game, winless in their five attempts thus far. As of writing, they're at the bottom of the Western Conference table with more losses than the Los Angeles Lakers.
Stephen Curry was on record that they'd be “insane” not to change things up after their latest loss to the Orlando Magic dropped them to 3-6. Alterations to the game plan this early into the season is never ideal.
That's not to say that all Warriors fans are worried. After all, it's hasn't even been a month into the NBA season just yet. But for the handful of rabble-rousers declaring this slow start as a state of emergency for the team that just recently celebrated their ring ceremony, there are several compelling reasons to settle down. Lest any of you get featured on Freezing Cold Takes when the Warriors once again start looking like the powerhouse that they are.
Here are three (3) reasons why all this Golden State Warriors panic will be a distant memory towards the end of the season
#1 – This happens to every championship team
The Warriors are on a four-game losing streak that could easily be five by the time you're reading this, depending on how their tilt against the New Orleans Pelicans goes on Friday. You know who else lost four straight road games? The 2021-22 NBA champion Golden State Warriors. The team lost five straight towards the beginning of March, which was part of a month-long slump that saw them go 2-9.
They ended up just fine.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks lost five in a row during their 2020-21 championship season. They immediately erased that five-game slump by winning 14 out of their next 15 games.
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers lost four in a row early in their campaign back in the bubble year. They followed that up with nine straight wins to propel them back to the top of the standings and eventually the Larry O'Brien trophy in Disney World.
Four games in a row is hardly a death sentence. It's how the team responds to the adversity that really matters, which also happens to be reason number two
#2 – Early season wakeup call
NBA legends with multiple rings have gone on record numerous times about how repeating is much, much harder than winning it the first time. The reasons is obvious. Nothing drives a player like the motivation to win a ring the first time around. Stephen Curry and co. had a virtual refresh of that motivation last season after dwelling amongst the bottom half of the NBA for a couple of seasons.
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It's just logic that the defending champions from any season could be more susceptible to coasting given that they know they can turn it on once the playoffs begin.
But with the team's likely nadir hitting the Warriors already, it's an early splash of water for them that they're hardly unbeatable. Losses to the Magic, Detroit Pistons, Charlotte Hornets prove that. The hype surrounding Golden State was through the roof with James Wiseman coming back and another year for the rest of their youngsters to get acclimated. But it's clear that they're hardly invincible – and they know it too.
#3 – The Warriors are too talented to fail
Have you seen how good Stephen Curry looks to start off his age-34 NBA season? He's averaging 31.0 points per game on 48.7 percent shooting while averaging more than five made threes per game. He just poured in 39 points and eight threes in their loss against the Magic.
Steph went iso for the clutch bucket pic.twitter.com/gjJFy0SvHh
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 4, 2022
Andrew Wiggins looks just as good as he did from his All-Star campaign last season. Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole aren't off to the best of starts, but it's hard to see them both shooting below 33 percent from distance for the rest of the season. Draymond Green is admittedly a step slow after another year of mileage, but he's still the defensive anchor and playmaker that he's always been.
The problems with the second unit aren't going to magically resolve themselves, but with their talented and more importantly proven core intact, it's hard to bet against them starting to churn out wins soon.
They held a late fourth quarter lead in three of their four losses on this streak. Their loss against the Pistons was an early tip off less than 24 hours after their OT loss in Charlotte. Whether it's poor execution, bad luck, scheduling woes, or a mix of all three, they could have easily won those games and the headlines wouldn't have been so alarming.
With the personnel at their disposal and a team culture that produces titles, this ship is turning around sooner rather than later.
