Warriors limp home after crushing road trip
NEW YORK — There’s not much the Warriors can take away from their meager 1-5 road trip.
Sure, there were some bright spots. Jordan Poole showed how good he can be when he plays a patient two-way game and was rewarded with a career-high 43 points in Toronto on Sunday. Three nights later in Brooklyn, James Wiseman and Patrick Baldwin Jr. also walked away with new career-highs in scoring (30 and 17 points, respectively) on a night when the younger guys played better, though that ultimately didn’t stop another 30-plus-point spanking.
But after being crushed by a combined 68 points on back-to-back nights in New York, coach Steve Kerr admitted that the depleted team might’ve hit its lowest point of the season.
“(Former NFL coach) Bill Parcells said you are what your record is,” Kerr said Wednesday night after a frustrating 143-113 loss to the Nets. “Bad road trip and we are 15-18, so we’re a below-.500 team and we got to kind of find a way to reverse it.”
The Warriors were plagued with the same problems on this road trip that Kerr has been harping on them about all season. They were sloppy with their execution of the game plan and got caught playing frenetically, which resulted in jumbled offense. The Warriors have committed an average of 19.5 turnovers over the last eight games, which has impacted their ability to get back and defend on the other end of the court. And opponents have made them pay. Brooklyn, specifically, turned 21 Warriors turnovers into 36 points.
Defensive mishaps led to good-look 3s for opponents, who knocked them down at a 44.3% clip during this trip.
“We’re starting to hit rock bottom,” Kerr said. “Injuries, whatever it is, schedule fatigue, you take it on the chin. So the whole key is how we respond to that and there’s no doubt our guys will respond.”
The Warriors are facing an uphill battle as they return back to the Bay for a pivotal eight-game homestand, their longest of the season. It’s still unclear when Stephen Curry will return after partially dislocating his left shoulder on this trip. Andrew Wiggins also remains sidelined with a strained thigh muscle, though the Warriors are hopeful he could be back in the lineup at some point during their upcoming homestand. Donte DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green’s timelines are also murky as they’re both under the weather, with Green entering the league’s health and safety protocols Tuesday.
Golden State entered Thursday sitting 1 1/2 games back from a play-in spot and 3 1/2 games out from making the playoffs outright. But even as they return to Chase Center, a place they’ve dominated this season (12-2), the Warriors’ schedule isn’t getting any easier. Five of their next eight opponents own a .500-or-better record, beginning Sunday with the Grizzlies, tied for first in the Western Conference, and ending Jan. 10 with the Suns, who are one game behind Memphis.
“We got to turn things around and the good news is the standings are pretty bunched up in the West,” Kerr said. “Despite our record, we are not in dire straits. So we need to get solid, we need to get some guys healthy and we need to start playing better obviously and build some momentum. These next games at home will be important but whatever 40-plus games after that are important.”
The players are also feeling an increased sense of urgency heading into this homestand.
“It will be really big for us,” Kevon Looney said. “Hopefully we can get some guys back, we’ll start building some momentum, just keep building some good habits and start collecting some wins. We’ve been really good at home, we want to keep building on that and then take that momentum on the road.”