The Golden State Warriors are in a murky place right now.
That tends to be the case after a wholly uncompetitive 126-102 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, their sixth loss of the season and sixth loss on the road thus far. In what was supposed to serve as a “measuring stick game” between themselves and the defending champions, the younger, faster, stronger, and bigger Thunder rocked Golden State every which way right from the get-go. By halftime, the Warriors found themselves down 19 with little hope of making a dent in the deficit.
It was the kind of loss that had Draymond Green sharing his honest thoughts about the Dubs' commitment to winning. After the game, a reporter asked Green what the biggest difference was between the team that rattled off a 23-8 record after acquiring Jimmy Butler and the current one treading water at 6-6.
“I think everybody was committed to winning and doing that in any way possible,” Green said after taking a long silence to consider the question. “Right now it doesn't feel that way.”
The reporter asked a follow-up regarding whether the current lack of commitment is due to personal agendas or something else.
“Everyone has a personal agenda in this league,” Green continued. “But you have to make this personal agenda work within the team confines. And if it doesn't work, then you kind of got to get rid of your agenda. Or eventually, the agenda is the cause of someone getting rid of you. You don't want a team with no personal agendas because a goal is an agenda. So you got to have some kind of personal agenda. But like I said, your personal agenda must work within the confines of the team.”
The Warriors' “fight” comes and goes
In a game so one-sided, it's hard to identify exactly what the Warriors' problems were. Turnovers remain an issue; the Thunder bullied Golden State 20 turnovers for the second time this season. Their three-point shooting defense continues to plummet; OKC shot 16-of-36 from the 3-point line (44.4%). Not to mention, Stephen Curry had trouble acclimating in his first game back from an illness that had held him out for the past three games. He finished with only 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting and an ugly -23 plus/minus.
But Curry was clearly not the only Warrior who struggled. Jimmy Butler also could not find a rhythm, with only 12 points in a marginally better -15 plus/minus. Jonathan Kuminga remained in his recent offensive slump, collecting only 13 points to go along with five bad turnovers. Brandin Podziemski was rather quiet, and the bench had few answers; it was an all-around struggle for the Warriors once again.
The only tiny silver lining the Dubs can take away from this loss was Moses Moody's play. His defense and shooting were just about the only two things that had signs of life and energy. But as a whole, Green's observation of the team is not far off from the eye test. The Warriors lack “fire in their belly,” as Kerr described it after the Denver Nuggets loss. They lack the desperation and urgency they played with after Butler joined the fray. Personnel, scheme, talent, star power, none of that really matters if the motivation isn't there.
“The fight isn't always there, you know?” Butler told reporters after the game. “If we're not making shots, I don't know, it gives us an out to not guard, for whatever reason that may be. But we've got to fight no matter what. I think most of that fight I'm talking about comes on the defensive end. If you're not getting stops, then you're just not playing hard enough. You're not doing what it takes to win.”
When Butler was presented with Green's honest assessment of the team, he didn't disagree.
“I think he's partially correct. We just got to go back to doing whatever it takes to win,” Butler said. “Everybody is going to have to sacrifice something. I can't tell you what sacrifice might be for every individual; it may be different for every individual, every single night. But it's got to get back to winning is the main thing and the only thing. It's going to be on the collective of the group to figure out what is needed to win.”
Golden State's path moving forward
The Warriors have five more road games on their trip across the Sun Belt; five games to get themselves back on track. The road hasn't favored them this season– they are 1-6 on the road, with the only road win being in Los Angeles against the Lakers in the season opener. But they'll need to find something on this trip because they are clearly searching for a spark right now.
“Obviously, when you lose, you start to look around and try to figure out what the issue is,” Curry said to reporters after the game. “Commitment to winning is running the floor, rebounding, taking care of the basketball, it's not even about shots going in or not. And we haven't done that consistently enough and our record shows that. Good news is we're going to turn it around.”
Golden State has the pieces in place to, as Curry puts it, turn it around. The Warriors will look to bounce back with two upcoming games against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.
