Last night, the Golden State Warriors had a loss so stupefyingly bad it can easily make even the most faithful member of Dub Nation begin to question how in the heck we got here.
The Dubs blew a 12-point lead with under four minutes to go against a Memphis Grizzlies team that really isn’t expected to contend for the Western crown this season. I know, I know, the Warriors are hella injured. But that doesn’t mean a team with Steph and Dray should be collapsing in a home opener in front of their loyal fans like that.
And the fact that TY JEROME made it happen? All respect to him, we all knew he could hoop, but WTF.
Here’s the breakdown of the shot selection down the stretch per ESPN:
Memphis: the shots they got were the right shots
Their threes were catch-and-shoot, and both came from Edey’s passes. Wells hit a 24-footer and drew a Curry foul for a four-point play (106-98). Jerome hit a 23-footer to make it 106-105. Edey dominated this stretch: two assists, a steal on Podziemski, a block on Curry, and an offensive rebound off Grant’s missed three that led directly to Wells’ tying free throws.
They went to the line. Memphis took 8 free throws to Golden State’s 2. The Warriors committed four fouls that sent them there (Curry, Lendeborg, Melton, Draymond) plus the technical. Boozer went 4-for-4 at the line on back-to-back trips at 2:02 and 1:49.
With the game in the balance, they went inside. Boozer’s 9-foot turnaround at 20.1 gave Memphis the lead. Jerome’s driving layup at 10.2 finished it. The only three Memphis missed late was Grant’s 25-footer, and Edey rebounded it.
Warriors: a lot of pull-up threes
Five of the six threes were long and unassisted: Curry from 25, Curry from 28 (blocked by a 7-foot-4 center), Curry’s 24-foot step-back, Podziemski from 25 and 22, and Brandon Williams’ 24-foot fadeaway at 2.8.
They were 0-for-3 at the rim. They did attack inside a few times: Draymond’s layup at 3:19, Lendeborg’s alley-oop at 2:14, and Curry’s driving layup at 1:31. Nothing went in, and none of those misses drew a foul.
They got three offensive rebounds and used two of them on threes. Lendeborg’s offensive board at 2:14 went right back out to a Podziemski three. Draymond’s board at 41.2, with the game tied, turned into a Curry step-back. A second possession with the game tied that ends in a contested 24-foot step-back is the clearest example of the problem.
Curry went 0-for-4 in the stretch.
The sequence at 12.8 ended it. Draymond’s offensive foul and the technical turned a one-possession game into a free throw plus a Memphis possession. Jerome’s layup made it 111-106.
Wellp, they’ll have a chance to hit the reset button tonight in the second half of a back-to-back. They’re headed to Phoenix to face the Suns, the team that knocked them out of the play-in tournament last year. Let’s hop in this gamethread and cheer the winless Warriors on tonight, Dub Nation!
WARRIORS ARE WASTING (DNHQ writers') PRIME(s)
I'm still not worried about bottom 3 (I think over 82 games we're still better than at least the Pelicans, Kings, Nets, and Bucks).
As of now, I'm not sure that we can find a good trade in February, because our pick might be too valuable and/or teams will try to capitalize on our situation, but there's a long, long way to go, so of course a lot can change.
I just want Yax to keep growing as a player, and the remaining players to stay healthy for a few months.
Strength in Numbers!