There’s “crashing back down to earth” and then there’s whatever is happening to the Golden State Warriors right now after their latest loss.
The Golden State Warriors dropped to 14-12 and outside the automatic playoff spots with their third consecutive loss but the manner of it was brutal.
The Memphis Grizzlies hung 144 points on the Dubs, winning by 51 points to hand Steph Curry and team their fifth-largest loss in franchise history.
Curry wasn’t very good either, being restricted to zero field goals for the first time since March 2018 but he only played just more than two minutes in that game.
Draymond Green had the Hall of Shame stat line- 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists with four turnovers and four personal fouls.
Brandin Podziemski top-scored with 21 points, mostly when the result was sealed but the focus after the loss is again on how high the Warriors’ ceiling is.
It won’t be determined by Curry or Green and this nightmare run of form has only reinforced that statement.
As long as Curry and Green are on the roster, the front office is bound to provide them with pieces that can come together and contend for a championship.
Klay Thompson’s departure was handled well as the Warriors went for more strength in depth and the early-season starts looked like that gamble had paid off.
Buddy Hield’s shooting, Kyle Anderson’s defense, and De’Anthony Melton’s hustle was a “Moneyball” way of replacing Thompson, and NBA experts raved about the Warriors’ depth.
The hope was raised further with the masterful trade of Dennis Schroder but the way the team collapsed on Schroder’s debut raises more questions than answers.
No obituaries will be written about Schroder after his first game didn’t go to plan, but as they say, start as you mean to go along which was hardly the case here.
To sum it up, despite standing in 10th place in a brutally stacked West, the Warriors have to go all-in and try for a championship.
For them to make that current pipe dream even a remote reality, they will have to depend on one player who will determine their ceiling this season.
The Warriors’ season so far can broadly be divided into two clear parts- Buddy Hield on fire and Buddy Hield in a shooting slump.
At this point, Steve Kerr knows what he’ll get from Curry, Draymond, and even Andrew Wiggins, who’s won a championship with the team as a core player.
Coming into the season, Hield was the biggest unknown, and the Warriors rode his shooting flying out of the traps to set the pace in the Western Conference after the first ten games.
They had an 11-2 record after 13 games and Hield was shooting nearly 42% from the three-point line, including a 50% hot start after the first six.
Since then, they have dropped nine of their next thirteen and Hield has shot 35% from distance, sometimes almost shooting his team out of games.
Podziemski has hit the expected rookie wall after an encouraging season and new additions will take time to gel but Hield hasn’t just been a victim of his own expectations, but he’s also become too important for the team.
Without his shooting, the whole court gets clogged up and if he can’t find his stroke again, then the Warriors ceiling will be, at best, a fodder for a team in the first round of playoffs.
Curry going nuclear might send up one more step ahead but that’s pretty much done. Hield will determine whether they go all the way.
For that to happen, the Warriors need the early-season Hield back.
Related Posts
