Warriors stumble out of the gate against the Hawks

It's not looking good without Steph, Dubs gotta get it together.

It was of little surprise to Dub Nation when it was announced Stephen Curry would not play in Saturday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks after the “pelvic contusion” sustained in the previous game. Thursday night, the Warriors had Chase Center on the verge of frenzy as they battled to create some scoreboard separation from the Raptors. I didn’t see it live but I heard a loud Thud - followed shortly thereafter by eighteen thousand mouths collectively groaning Owwwww.

The silver lining from the up and down past week is the Warriors not named Curry played the last game and a half without him and they kinda sorta kicked butt. Not that playing without #30 is something to get used to, but this is when the deep bench pays dividends. Spirits sounded generally positive amongst Warrior fans. Some speculated SC30 may rest a full calendar week yet only miss 3 games. Finally the schedule gods look down on us favorably.

The surging Warriors make the cross country trek kicking off a 6 game road trip with the Atlanta Hawks, 7th seed in the East. The Hawks have been dealing with their own myriad of injuries, recently shutting down Clint Capela for the season. Trae Young sets the pace with 24 points per game and a league leading 11.4 assists per game. Second year player Dyson Daniels is making NBA headlines leading the league with 3 steals per game. There’s a lot of upside for Head Coach Quin Snyder and his youthful roster.

Brandin Podziemski got the night started, swishing a 25 footer giving GSW the early lead. Twelve seconds later, Daniels responds with a 3PT of his own to tie it up. We’ll revisit this opening sequence later. After both teams battled to a near stalemate to start the game, Atlanta found their groove midway through the first quarter extending their lead by as many as 20. The Hawks shot a scorching 65% in the 1st. All those easy looks in transition boosted the confidence of the Hawks shooters as they chipped in 4 of 9 from deep.

Someone in that Golden State huddle took that big deficit personally. The second period featured a more focused Warriors defense. A little more in sync. Seemingly communicating better. More disruptive like we’ve seen of late. After giving up 40 points to Atlanta in the first quarter, the Warriors defense would limit the Hawks to under 30 per quarter for the rest of the game. That’s good right?

If that was all Steve Kerr had to worry about, I’d like the chances for a W. Since misery loves company, the early defensive sluggishness also infected the offense. The flow was absent. The motion hesitated. Dribbles terminated at weird times clogging everything up. Oddly, the Warriors shot poorly in the 1st and 3rd and much better in the 2nd and 4th.

The rest of the night was a cruel game of close but not enough for Warrior fans. The trio of Trae Young, Dyson Daniels and 2020 1st Round pick Onyeka Okongwu toyed with those of us wishing for a comeback - each posting a double-double for the game. Okongwu led the charge with an impactful 18 points in the first half. Time and time again, Atlanta responded to Golden State runs to keep the Warriors at bay. After some early 3rd period 3PTs closed the Atlanta lead to six, a Young floater in the lane (Trae just might have the smoothest floater in the game), a Daniels open bucket from deep and all of a sudden the lead was back up to 14. Quite the uphill battle with Unanimous still on the left coast.

Not to be outdone by Okongwu’s first half, former Golden State Warrior Georges Niang provided the spark from deep for the Hawks, keeping the GSW defense in scramble mode. Between the Hawks imposing their size and strength in the paint against the undersized Warriors to Trae Young’s ability to get into the lane coupled with Niang’s 6 of 8 from distance in the 2nd half, it would not be in the cards for the Warriors tonight.

Twelve seconds. GSW had the lead for all of 12 seconds against ATL. Atlanta outrebounded the Warriors, while shooting 57% from the field and 42% from beyond the arc and their bench outplayed ours. Not good indicators for a team battling for playoff position in the wild wild West.

There were some bright spots for the glass half full Golden State faithful. It was a welcome sight to see Podz dropping in 3PTs. He’s been shooting better since coming back from injury. Moses Moody continues to take advantage of his starting role. Quinten Post’s shooting is stretching out opposing defenses. Gary Payton II still wreaking havoc along the baseline and nailing those open baseline threes. Jimmy Butler III pacing GSWs new found money at the charity stripe.

Stop #2 on this trip brings the Warriors to South Beach to take on the Miami Heat. It’ll be good to see Andrew Wiggins again who's been playing well lately. I wonder what Jimmy’s tribute video is gonna be like.