The Golden State Warriors have played like top-tier title favorites at home this season. No team in the league has fewer home losses than the defending champions' two, and their +12.9 net rating in San Francisco is the second-best home discrepancy in the NBA, per Cleaning the Glass.
But the Warriors, unfortunately, can't play every game from the friendly confines of Chase Center, and their performance on the road has been even more disappointing than their performance at home has been dominant. Golden State's 3-16 record outside the Bay is the worst in basketball, and its -9.4 net rating away from home sits just above the rebuilding Houston Rockets' league-low mark.
How does Draymond Green account for his team's drastically disparate play depending on location? Hardly mincing words, the Warriors' emotional leader says it's all in their head.
“Draymond Green says the Warriors' road struggles are a ‘mental' issue,” C.J. Holmes of the San Francisco Chronicle tweeted on Friday. “‘Right now I think we're very fragile,' Green said.”
Golden State just finished a disastrous six-game road trip, and not just because it went 1-5. Stephen Curry missed the last four games of the Warriors' trek after injuring his left shoulder in a loss to the Indiana Pacers, poised to remain sidelined past the New Year.
Andrew Wiggins missed all six of those games, while Donte DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green were unavailable for Golden State's ugly back-to-back losses to the surging New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets.
The good news for the Warriors? They kick off an eight-game home stand on Christmas against the rival Memphis Grizzlies, with nearly three weeks to find their mental bearings before going back on the road.
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