Despite pulling off a 117-112 win over the Toronto Raptors on home soil, the Golden State Warriors weren't at their peak to start their three-game home stand against the Eastern Conference.
The defending champions took the Raptors' best shot, as expected — playing a close affair throughout the game, with only a few runs that were soon chased back after miscues, bad shots, and lack of energy rebounding the ball.
Draymond Green addressed the elephant in the room, putting it as simply as can be.
“Our defense has been horrible,” he said, according to Mark Medina of the San Jose Mercury News. “Nobody’s communicating.”
“At first, we were fouling a lot. The first four games the fouls were horrific and then tonight we fouled a bit early and then we cut back on that, then we turned the ball over.”
The Warriors now find themselves at the bottom of every defensive category through five games, including opponent points per game (27th), 3-point percentage (21st), and field goals made (25th).
A dud that could be traced back to the team's trip to China and a shortened preseason, now has become a matter of players and coaching staff being held accountable after giving up an average of 113.6 points per game to start the season.
“It feels like we’re still in training camp,” said head coach Steve Kerr. “Just the basic stuff, executing plays that we call, where we’re just in the wrong spot, we don’t get the punch, the force we need out of the plays.”
“Our execution just isn’t quite sharp enough.”
Trailing by three points in the closing minutes, the Warriors were saved by a Kevin Durant pull-up three, tying the game at 112 with only 1:02 to go in the game — in the same motion he nailed one over LeBron James to seal a 3-0 lead in the 2017 NBA Finals.
Golden State extended the lead with a Stephen Curry deep three, who later added two free throws and a late-game steal to seal the win at home and avoid a second consecutive loss at Oracle Arena since the 2013-14 season.
“We are trying to take it one step at a time,” said Kerr about getting this team into gear. “I’m not trying to go too crazy on them.”
“We’re a championship team,” said Green. “We fought and that’s what we expect ourselves to do. Fight each and every time we step on the floor and when we do that, we give ourselves a chance to win every game.”
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