"A gut punch." That is how Coach Steve Kerr described the Warriors heartbreaking loss to the Denver Nuggets at Oracle Arena Thursday evening. Going into the fourth-quarter, after a dominant 44 third-quarter offensive explosion, the Dubs let a 18 point lead slip away, and were beaten at the end of the game with a buzzer-beater half-court rainbow 3-pointer by Nuggets star Nickola Jokic's that was the game-winning dagger to end the game. The number of games where the Warriors cannot close out in "crunch-time" , defined as less than five minutes to play and a five point margin, has become a major problem for this team that needs to immediately be addressed and solved if Golden State has any future of being in the NBA playoffs. In Friday night's game against the lowly, three win Detroit Pistons team, The Dubs were barely able to hang on against such an inferior team, but in the end, beat the Pistons, 113-109. The victory did come at a high cost, as Golden State lost one of its key players, Chris Paul, who ended up with a broken hand on a rebound play. Paul will have surgery this week, and the timetable on his return back from this injury is estimated to be about four to six weeks. A devastating loss, with the team already without suspended Draymond Green and an injured Gary Payton II. More than ever, the Warriors need to have their young bench players step to make up for absence of Paul and Payton II. Sunday's game against the Toronto Raptors at Chase Center showed how the loss of Paul and playing back-to-back games took its toll as the Dubs never could get on track on offense and had poor communication on defense, as they lost to the Raptors 133-118. Steph Curry had one of his worst offensive games of the season, scoring just nine points for the game, but Klay Thompson put up 25 points and was defiant in his post-game press conference: “We got Steph Curry,” Thompson said. “We got myself. Draymond Green is coming back. Chris Paul will be back. We got champions on the roster. And, I will never panic, like I said. I really believe in this team. We still have a ton of basketball left. What’s the point of panicking? We’ve been through incredible highs and some low, lows with this team. So, there’s no point in pointing fingers. All you can do is keep working and believe, and I certainly do believe.”
For the final game of this seven-game home stand, the boo-birds were out at Chase Center, as the Dubs were demolished by the New Orleans Pelicans, 141-105. This was the worst loss in Steph Curry's career, as the Dubs gave up 46 points in the first-quarter alone. As the score indicates, the Warriors, with no Green, no Paul and no Payton II, had no defensive answers to the three-pointers the Pelicans rained down upon them. By the fourth-quarter, Coach Kerr was resting his starters and cleared the bench fo mop-up duty in this blow-out. The Dubs now go on a for game road trip, starting in Chicago against the Bulls on Friday.
Golden State, now with a 17-20 record, reportedly have an "everyone but Steph" mentality as the NBA trade deadline approaches. This is also the final year of Coach Kerr's contract as well, and all that may be in play as the season progresses. Even Curry had this to say about the current state of play by the team, and of changes that might be coming:
"We have a standard that's pretty evident that if things stay the same, that's the definition of insanity, right? Keep doing the same thing expecting a different result." Steph on major decisions the front office might make with the trade deadline looming in his post-game presser.
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