SAN FRANCISCO — With the whole thing of their championship core again collectively and their celebrity delivering the most effective seasons of his profession, the Golden State Warriors’ title protection might have been on cruise management. Instead it is extra carefully resembled by 5 o’clock Bay Bridge visitors — intermittent temptations of hope when the highway seems to be clearing up, solely to out of the blue slam on the brakes and impatiently wait in gridlock as soon as once more.
There’s a line from the Christopher Guest traditional “Best in Show,” when Gerry and Cookie lastly arrive in Philadelphia after the lengthy drive up from Florida. When requested how the journey went, Gerry says, “A bit of cloudy arising by West Virginia. Then it stayed overcast by Virginia. But as soon as we get into Pennsylvania … it is nonetheless, uh, nonetheless overcast.”
That’s been the Warriors season in a nutshell. It began off mediocre, then round Christmas it stayed mediocre. Now, approaching the All-Star break … it is nonetheless, uh, nonetheless mediocre.
Golden State head coach Steve Kerr has spoken numerous occasions over the course of the season in regards to the quest to string wins collectively and construct momentum, however they merely have not been in a position to do it for a number of causes, not the least of which has been harm points. They’ve solely gained greater than three video games in a row as soon as this season — a five-game streak from Christmas to Jan. 2.
“We’ve had inconsistent beginning play [recently], lots of that primarily based on accidents,” Kerr stated. “We simply have not been in a position to put all of it collectively at one time. That’s what I’ve seen.”
The newest roadblock got here with simply over a minute left within the third quarter of Saturday’s win over the Dallas Mavericks, when Stephen Curry damage his left leg and limped into the stands after defending a drive by McKinley Wright IV.
The Chase Center crowd fell to close silence save for a couple of “not agains,” as Curry gingerly made his solution to the sideline to be checked out by the coaching employees. He continued to be labored on as play resumed, however rapidly made an not noticeable exit to the locker room. Warriors guard Donte DiVincenzo returned to the bench in the course of the subsequent stoppage of play and queried, “Where’s Steph?”
As it turned obvious that Curry wouldn’t return to the courtroom, the power within the constructing fully drained. The fog prolonged to the gamers as effectively, as they noticed a 20-point lead when Curry exited shaved to 5 with simply over a minute left to play. Multiple Warriors attributed the fourth-quarter struggles to getting away from what they have been doing effectively — in different phrases, they did not have Curry.
On Sunday, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that Curry is predicted to overlook a number of weeks with what the Warriors referred to as “partial tears to his superior tibiofibular ligaments and interosseous membrane in addition to a contusion to his decrease left leg.” In English: It’s not nice, nevertheless it might have been worse.
“It’s been an up and down season for us. Sometimes we get going and we predict that we clicked, after which we take successful,” Warriors ahead JaMychal Green stated on Saturday. “It’s lots of adversity and we’re preventing by it.”
Curry just lately returned from an 11-game absence as a consequence of a shoulder harm, throughout which the Warriors went 6-5 — a victory contemplating how tremendously the offense historically suffers with Curry on the sideline. During that stretch, Golden State managed to maintain their offensive ranking at 110.8, in comparison with its season common of 107.1 with Curry off the ground. When Curry is on the courtroom, the Warriors’ offensive effectivity jumps to 117.4 factors per 100 possessions.
After a short experiment beginning Jordan Poole rather than Kevon Looney, Kerr stated that his plan was to return to the unit of Curry, Looney, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins, which has the most effective internet ranking of any five-man group within the NBA that is performed no less than 300 minutes. That thought, after all, will now must be placed on maintain.
The excellent news is that Poole, who will presumably fill Curry’s slot in the course of the harm, has performed significantly better as a starter. The Warriors may even rely extra closely on DiVincenzo — who has averaged 11 factors, 5 rebounds and 4 assists over his final 20 video games whereas taking pictures 43 % from 3-point vary — together with rising younger ahead Jonathan Kuminga.
Despite their struggles, the Warriors, seventh within the Western Conference, nonetheless have the identical variety of losses because the No. 4-seeded Los Angeles Clippers. As lengthy as Green, Wiggins and Thompson keep wholesome, the Warriors have an opportunity to stem the tide throughout Curry’s absence, however any hopes of rattling off 4 or 5 wins in a row and taking pictures up the standings have probably been dashed. Again.
“We’ll be advantageous. We’re in an incredible place,” JaMychal Green stated on Saturday, anticipating Curry’s potential absence. “We’ve simply received to get some wins in a row, transfer up the ranks.”
