Warriors suffer shocking loss to Magic; Kerr ready to adjust rotations

I refuse to believe Golden State will lose every single road game this season...but they've lost five in a row away from Chase!

The Golden State Warriors blew another lead and lost another road game, this time to the moribund Orlando Magic 130-129. The Dubs have a record of 3-6 on the season, with five of those losses coming on the road.

SportsCenter @SportsCenter

The Magic rally to stun Steph and the Warriors 😳

Bally Sports Florida: Magic @BallyMagic

HE'S COLD BLOODED 🥶 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 ➡️ bspts.cc/orlando-magic-… @OrlandoMagic | @jalensuggs

I cannot believe the Dubs lost a game where they scored 129 points, shooting 51.5% from the field and 44% from beyond the arc. They even had five players in double figures scoring:

• Stephen Curry: 39 points (season high)

• Klay Thompson: 27 points (season high)

• Kevon Looney: 17 points (!) (season high)

• Andrew Wiggins: 15 points

• Jordan Poole: 11 points

There’s a lot to complain about here from a GSW fan perspective, and we could certainly nitpick why the team didn’t shoot 100% from the field and have zero turnovers.

But if the Warriors can put up last night’s scoring numbers on a nightly basis I can’t complain. As Draymond Green said in his press conference, the team will take 15 of 30 shooting from three-point range from the Splash Bros anytime.

Let’s talk about that horrendous defense Golden State is playing. The Magic (the worst team in basketball with a 2-7 record) shot just under 54% from the field and 43% from three-point range.

They also went to the free throw line 46 times, converting 33 of them. Just for my sanity, let me see ask Stat Muse what are the most free throw attempts in a game this season by a team:

Ah I see, the Warriors just gave up the most FTA in a game that this season has seen. So the defense allowed Orlando to make over half their shots from the field, got destroyed from 3PT territory, AND fouled them like there was no tomorrow. Incredible!

Monte Poole @MontePooleNBCS

Per Warriors: The 46-15 ORL advantage in free throws is the largest FT deficit for the Warriors since April 12, 2013 vs Lakers (50-16).

Take a look at how GSW’s rim protectors fared as the perimeter players got cooked:

• Draymond Green: 6 fouls

• Kevon Looney: 5 fouls

• JaMychal Green: 5 fouls

• James Wiseman: 3 fouls in 9 minutes

At this point, maybe the bigs should just stay the hell out of the paint to avoid foul trouble and let people get layups since there’s no resistance beyond the arc anyway:

Joe Viray @JoeVirayNBA

Dawg

Now I know there were some disgusted folks out here in Dub Nation who are already demanding that the team shutdown the development of the lottery picks after the first 10 games of the season.

jason battle @jasontbattle

im kinda over the two timeline thing honestly - not because i think these young dudes won’t eventually be good but steph really playing out of his mind let’s just push the chips all in also people will stop fighting on the time line

Guru @DrGuru_

Once again, all Warriors starters had a positive plus/minus tonight. The Warriors starters continue to be the best 5-man lineup in the NBA based on Net Rating. That tells you how bad the bench is.

Daman Rangoola @damanr

This Golden State Warriors bench is going to go down in history as the unit that was the most effective in taking down the Steph Curry era Golden State Warriors

But I’m pretty sure this is all a part of the big picture process that the dynasty has: use the regular season (we’re only in November folks) to figure out the combos that fit and then hit the playoffs in April with a revamped identity.

Kerith Burke @KerithBurke

Kerr states postgame changes are coming. “We're gonna have to make some adjustments, make some changes. We’ve had a look. We’ve had what, nine games now? So we've had a decent look at combinations and so it's time to try something different.”

And for those haunted because the team couldn’t make it out of the play-in tournament seeding in 2021 because they blew some early regular season games, let’s recall that was a 72-game season. Coach Steve Kerr has an extra 10 games this year to tweak and mess around…and he’s also got a healthy Klay Thompson this time.

This team absolutely has to grow; thankfully there’s like five more months of basketball to figure it out.

²³ @PlayoffDraymond

This right here! 🗣💯

Justin (RIPKOBE) @ThePackageJG

Funny thing is, the absolute best version of James Wiseman is still antithetical to what the Warriors have always been lol They’d HAVE to change how they play which would open up another can of worms in itself. It was never worth it lol

Anthony Slater @anthonyVslater

Steve Kerr on James Wiseman: “It’s been a tough couple games for James. But I’m a believer. I love his talent, his attitude. But there’s no shortcuts.”

There’s no guarantees that this team will win a championship, but that’s the fun part. Winning titles is so hard in this league, and the fact that the Dubs have done it more than any other franchise in the last decade gives me the confidence to at least wait until CHRISTMAS before I have major doubts about the team’s ability to figure this new season out.

And at the end of the game, as atrocious as the collapse was, there was still a chance for a game winner:

Warriors on NBCS @NBCSWarriors

Klay just misses the game-winner

Four of the team’s six losses were decided in the final two minutes of the game, with a couple blown leads sprinkled in. That’s the sign of a team that’s close to figuring it out, but needs the cohesion and defense to seal the deal. They’ve got time to figure it out, do you have the patience Dub Nation?