Golden State has still not won — or lost — three games in a row after losing a heartbreaking thriller to the Mavericks on Saturday night, 134-132.
But doesn’t it seem as though they could have done so already? The winning part, that is. And the losing part too, frankly.
The Warriors’ record sits at 12-11, near the bottom of the playoff picture in the NBA’s Western Conference and they’ve lost games they perhaps shouldn’t have.
Saturday’s loss certainly qualifies. Superstar guard Stephen Curry was brilliant in scoring 57 points, which would have been his career high if he didn’t already score 62 points — in a win — earlier this season.
So what’s holding the team back? Thanks to coach Steve Kerr’s insistence on a defense-first mentality, they’ve become a respectable team on that end of the floor, even cracking the top-10 defensive rating list earlier this week.
But the Warriors are the league’s worst team in one key area, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
The Mavericks got to the line 30 times, which continues a season-long trend for the grabby Warriors, who foul more than every team in the league, surpassing the Wizards in recent days. It’s maybe their largest current flaw.
The Athletic
That’s right, Golden State draws the most whistles in the NBA. The Warriors disagreed with some calls that went in favor of Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic, but given the season-long sample size, Kerr’s bunch simply needs to foul less often by playing sound defense, moving their feet an not reaching.
The Warriors went to the line 23 times in their own right, and will try to even that out by fouling fewer times and continuing to be aggressive on offense when they get their next chance against the Spurs on Monday.
(Photo credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports)
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