The Golden State Warriors hit a new low Wednesday night against the New Orleans Pelicans, closing out a disappointing seven-game homestand with what might be their worst performance of the season. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and company fell behind by double-digits in the game's first three minutes, setting the stage for an embarrassing 141-105 loss at Chase Center somehow uglier than that lopsided final score suggests.
Golden State's dispiriting performance comes on the heels of a blowout home defeat to the Toronto Raptors, a frustrated Steve Kerr saying after the game his team “got punched in the mouth.” The Pelicans hit the Warriors even harder on Wednesday, the second straight night boos rained down from the Chase Center crowd.
“We deserved it for sure. Fell behind immediately. I think we're just lacking confidence right now. You just sort of get to a stage sometimes where you just kinda lose your belief, and it happens. That's what's happening right now with our team the last few days. I think we've just lost the spirit, the confidence that has to carry you against talented teams night in and night out.”
Reeling Warriors still searching for lineup, rotation answers
The Warriors opened with a different starting lineup for the third consecutive game, Brandin Podziemski taking Andrew Wiggins' place next to Curry, Thompson, Jonathan Kuminga and Kevon Looney at tipoff. Kerr went a different route after intermission, replacing an ineffective Podziemski with Moses Moody.
It didn't work. The Dubs cut the Pelicans' lead to 86-75 with 6:10 left in the third quarter, but quickly let go of the rope once again. They were down 18 just over three minutes of game time later, forcing Kerr to call timeout. Curry stayed on the bench coming out of that dead ball, his scheduled rest coming at the worst possible time.
Golden State then rolled out a lineup of Cory Joseph, Podziemski, Andrew Wiggins, Dario Saric and Trayce Jackson-Davis. Unsurprisingly, that seldom-used group failed to put a dent in New Orleans' commanding lead, the Warriors trailing 108-86 entering the final stanza. They were down 30 just a couple minutes into the fourth quarter, prompting Kerr to wave the white flag by giving Gui Santos extended garbage-time minutes after another timeout.
Kerr said on the postgame podium that Podziemski might have hit the “rookie wall.” Wiggins played one of his worst games of an awful season on Wednesday, finishing with a -29 plus-minus.
Curry and Thompson contributed to Golden State's abysmal start with careless turnovers, never finding their footing en route to 28 total points on 23 shots. Moody's spot-up shooting and euro-step driving was definitely a bright spot, but he left the game early with a calf strain that will require an MRI.
The Dubs' only silver lining? Draymond Green's return is imminent, potentially as soon as Friday's road tilt with the Chicago Bulls. But the lack of lineup continuity and on-court chemistry that's dogged the Warriors since 2023-24 tipped off could only loom larger when Green first gets back in the fold, eliciting more tough decisions and difficult conversations for a team already on the emotional ropes.
“We're scattered. We're all over the place with lineups, we're trying to find different combinations,” Kerr said. “Whereas a lot of teams like New Orleans are really rounding into form, they know exactly who they are, we're scattered. You can point to a number of reasons why; none of them matter. The only thing that matters is we are scattered, and we've got to find some continuity and find some lineups and find some fight.”
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