The Warriors jumped out to a 15-2 lead against the Blazers on Wednesday, but by the end of the game, it was Dame time.
Blazers guard Damian Lillard hit a big 3-pointer late as Warriors guard Stephen Curry and the rest of his team missed an array of shots in crunch time, many from close range. A Draymond Green charge, taken by Lillard, sealed the 108-106 Portland win.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr made sure to mention that his team needs more scoring from players other than Curry, who had 35 on the night, with 23 in the first half. No other Warrior scored more than 14 points. Here’s possibly part of Kerr’s postgame press conference Wednesday night, via Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
It appeared Kerr didn’t quite know what to say in response to Slater’s question, which was about the lack of scoring at the center position. Kerr said they clearly need more scoring period. The team in 21st in the NBA in scoring, per The Athletic. The loss of Kelly Oubre Jr., who suffered a wrist injury in practice before the Blazers game, definitely hurt Golden State’s scoring punch.
Where else can Kerr find some points? Guard Jordan Poole was just recalled from the G-League, and he’ll likely get some playing time soon, possibly against the Suns on Thursday. Center James Wiseman, as Slater alluded to, can also fill it up when given the chance. He had just six points in 11 minutes on Wednesday, on 3-of-4 shooting.
Forward Andrew Wiggins is another Warrior that could perhaps be more aggressive on offense. He had those 14 points I mentioned, and has been pretty steady all around, but definitely unspectacular for the most part and has only taken control offensively on occasion this year.
And there’s always Green, though Kerr seems content with his lack of scoring punch.
But honestly, if any Warrior, Curry included, could have scored late against the Blazers, Kerr probably wouldn’t be complaining so much. Golden State shot just 2-for-7 from near the bucket in the fourth quarter, per Marcus Thompson of The Athletic.
I believe two of those misses were from Curry, too, in the game’s final minutes. So while Kerr isn’t wrong — the Warriors do need to score more to compliment their strong defense — on Wednesday night in Portland, it was right in front of them, literally.
They’ll look to regroup on a back-to-back game in Phoenix Thursday night. If I was a gambling man, and if you could bet on such a thing, I’d say put your money on two or more Poole and Wiseman pick-and-rolls, as the team will need a jolt of energy against a tough opponent after a gut wrenching loss.
(Photo credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports)
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