Warriors lose to Magic, with Heat up next on road trip from hell

Is this many road games in a row even legal?!

Editor’s note: Due to popular demand, we’ve got Riley G. back in the place to be to serve up some thoughts on these Dubs!

Leo Tolstoy’s first novel Anna Karenina begins with the now-famous aphorism, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” For the Warriors of the past few years, the inverse of that pearl of Russian literature has felt a lot closer to the truth. Each win they secure is a unique kaleidoscope of joy and wonder, every loss is the same exact tragic story of ineptitude.

Where some teams find novel ways to blow a game, tell any member of Dub Nation that the Warriors lost and they’ll be able to describe the game to you without having watched a possession: shocking blown layups, mind numbing turnovers, incessant fouling often because of a glaring size deficiency, offense passivity to the point of petrification, and of course opponent role players achieving career highs.

On Tuesday evening in Orlando this axiom was once again applicable in most ways, but the Warriors did manage to at least flip some parts of the script, the smallest of consolations for the fan who spent 2 and a half hours of their night hoping for something new and different who were instead treated to another classic Golden State defeat.

Beyond the aforementioned hallmarks of Warriors ineffectuality, another signature element of Warriors loses is often the trap game against shorthanded opponents. Earlier in the year Golden State fell victim to quintessential trap games when they lost to the Bucks without Giannis and the Pacers without Haliburton (and half of their team). In those games the mental trap was palpable in a lack of effort and focus from the Warriors most important players. Against Orlando, who were missing Paolo Banchero, the story was actually different; the OG’s were locked in and led the team in all major categories in addition to hustle and desire.

Draymond had 12 points, looked aggressive on offense and resumed his good shooting year from downtown, while Al Horford hit a couple 3’s, was active on defense and racked up 3 stocks. Steph and Jimmy were professional All-Stars. Instead, it was the Warriors’ role players and younger guys who were almost invisible on the court. The 4 leading scorers were the 4 oldest players and nobody else eclipsed even 6 points.

The only non-stars to acquit themselves with even a modicum of respectability were the new starter Will Richard and GPII, recently resurrected to the rotation. Richard didn’t have any highlight plays but he was engaged, hit his only 2 shots and was in the right place at the right time like always. And for a brief moment in the 2nd quarter, Payton’s decisive finishing in the PNR created a little bit of momentum for the Warriors.

It wouldn’t last however, because the rest of the team was so useless. Outside of Richard and Payton (and Horford), the rest of the supporting cast shot 6/20 on field goals and 2/9 from 3 (1/8 outside of garbage time). They made exceedingly dumb turnovers in the backcourt (Moses Moody), didn’t try hard enough to corral errant passes (looking at you with scorn Buddy Hield) and refused to attack the basket with any verve (Brandin “The White Shohei” Podziemski). Jonathan Kuminga was once again sidelined with knee tendinitis, and this performance from the rest of the Dubs highlighted the dire need for scoring and force from him or someone in his roster spot.

For so many years, if the engine of their team (Wardell Stephen Curry) had a good night, a Warriors win was almost guaranteed. And few venues have seen more or better Curry games than the Magic’s arena in central Florida. Last season he dropped 56 at Orlando in a stunning comeback victory, and for fleeting moments last night it seemed like he might repeat the feat again. Unfortunately this was merely an excellent game from Steph instead of an all-timer, and the Dubs only shot was probably receiving the latter.

At moments it looked like Steph might author one more chapter in the Russian epic of his domination against Orlando. He started hot, hit some audacious 3’s, and was percolating part way through the 2nd quarter. Unfortunately for both him and the team, the heat checks that signify a truly special night refused to go down before half, and some static bail-out heaves in the 2nd half never fell, bringing his percentages down to merely great instead of the exceptional levels Golden State needed.

When the Warriors have fallen short with Steph playing well before, it was often because of a lack of a second option on offense who could create his own shot. Last night Jimmy Butler provided that and the Warriors still couldn’t get over the hump. Butler was efficient like always, was everywhere in passing lanes and even got up for multiple jams, showing the latent athleticism that he keeps in cruise control most of the regular season.

With Steph on the bench and their normal actions failing to gain even the smallest amount of traction, the team desperately looked to Butler to save them and he did as best he could. Even without Banchero, the Magic are an extremely big team. You could feel this size when they pressure the ball, ripped away offensive rebounds, skied for alley top dunks and generally walled off the paint. To counter, Jimmy took a lot of midrange jump shots, and these both looked beautiful and fell at a reassuring clip. He would finish with 33 points to complement Steph’s 34.

So often in Warriors losses there is a complete absence of competitive spirit. You can tell from the opening tip that they don’t ‘have it’ and they never even look capable of beating their opponent. This is all the more frustrating because more often than not, when the Dubs have shown up with the requisite commitment to winning over the last decade, they walk away with the victory.

Tuesday was a different kind of night. The stars certainly tried, leading to personal success, but they couldn’t lift the feckless jerseys around them. Butler and Steph’s performances felt more workmanlike than transcendent, and they never seemed to reach the frenzied, overwhelming level of effort and dominance that has spurred so many 3rd quarter avalanches or 4th quarter comebacks for Dub Nation of the years.

If there are any silver linings to be found, it is that this was part of the team’s 5th back to back of the season, and 5th game of a 6 game road trip. The Magic broadcast pointed out that the Houston Rockets still have not played a SINGLE back to back set the entire season. Furthermore, Steph and the team continue to draw more fouls than they have in years. Steph is averaging 2 more FTA per game than last season, and is on pace to set a career high with 9.5 free throws per 100 possessions.

He wasn’t good on offense, but Quinten Post continues to make serious strides on defense and as a rebounder. He doesn’t quite do enough besides shoot to justify more minutes yet, and his shooting has fallen off lately down to a 34.6% mark from 3, but rounding out the weakness in his game make it much easier to play him. He’s averaging 2 more rebounds per 100 possessions and has added 5% to his personal rebounding percentage this season.

The following clip is abridged and fails to show him moving his feet pretty well on the perimeter against Anthony Black who destroyed the Warriors on Tuesday. But you can see Post’s improved confidence as a defender around the rim, the way he is weaponizing his size more and using intelligence to counter any physical disadvantages.

The most frustrating part of this loss for the Warriors is not that they couldn’t pull out a victory or that they didn’t try to compete. In fact, they managed to subvert a lot of their negative history and seriously threatened for most of the game. It was watching the Dudes show up, as a particular member of Warriors twitter likes to say, and seeing everyone else around the superstars let them down. And to add insult to injury, they’ll be playing in another back to back tonight against the Heat, without Horford, Steph and most likely Jimmy and Dray. It remains to be seen if they can echo previous shorthanded victories or if they will create a new typology of frustrating defeat.