Following the Warriors’ blowout loss to the Jazz on Saturday, coach Steve Kerr, along with Steph Curry and Draymond Green, made some sharp comments about the team’s issues.
And reasonably so. I mean, the Jazz are formidable, but Golden State fell behind by as many as 40 points. That’s not ideal for a re-loaded roster with one of the best players in the NBA and world in Curry.
The club’s record is even at 8-8, but the season has been an up and down campaign, with impressive wins against the Lakers and Clippers mixed in with disastrous performances. Overall, however, their point differential is sixth-worst in the NBA, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
The Warriors — now at a fortunate 8-8 considering their point differential is minus-59, sixth-worst in the NBA behind only the Pistons, Magic, Thunder, Kings and Timberwolves — have some obvious [problems].
The struggling starting lineup is the most persistently hurtful. Within 80 seconds Saturday night, the Warriors airballed two jumpers, the Jazz hit three 3s, and it was 9-0. The Utah lead was 19-2 before Steph Curry even took a shot. At that point, Kelly Oubre Jr. had already missed four.
For a team trying to make the playoffs, it’s obviously not good to be grouped with those other poor-performing clubs.
The starting lineup issues are largely what Kerr talked about postgame, since that group is an astounding minus-73 in 161 minutes this season, per Slater. The starting five has been so detrimental to Curry, as Slater explains, that Kerr has been playing his star guard alongside reserve players more than starters.
Kerr has been patient, saying he wants to build an elite defensive starting five. That’s been his main reason for sticking with Kelly Oubre at shooting guard. But at almost 20 games into the season, the coach’s patience is running out. We’ll see if he makes any changes when the Warriors face the Timberwolves on Monday.
(Photo credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports)
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