The Golden State Warriors fell in blowout fashion, 126-102, to the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night, their fifth loss in their last seven games. And afterward, two of their star players, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler, called for the team to get introspective about what matters.
Green questioned the team’s commitment to playing winning basketball, pointing to their early success this season as the example that showed they can play the right way.
“I think everybody was committed to winning [back then] and doing that any way possible,” Green said, via ESPN. “Right now, it doesn’t feel that way.”
Butler was asked about Green’s comments and thought Draymond was “partly correct,” echoing his sentiment that the Warriors (now 6-6 after a 4-1 start) have to do “whatever it takes to win.” He said that meant each player sacrificing in some way individually. When asked what the group needs to change as a collective, he pointed to their lack of fight.
“The fight, honestly. I just think the fight is not all the way there,” Butler said. “If people are not making shots, I don’t know, it gives us an out to not guard — I don’t know why, whatever reason that may be. But we gotta fight no matter what. I think most of that fight I’m talking about is on the defensive end. If you’re not getting stops, you’re not playing hard — you’re not doing whatever it takes to win.”
Warriors plagued by poor defense, turnovers
It’s not surprising Butler would point to the defensive end as the issue for Golden State, as they’ve been a middling group during their recent skid. Over the last seven games they are 12th in the NBA in defensive rating (112.7, per NBA Stats), but that’s skewed by their two wins over the lowly Phoenix Suns and Indiana Pacers — with Indiana scoring 83 points to buoy Golden State’s defensive metrics.
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Against more competitive teams, the Warriors’ defense has been picked apart, as they’ve learned the hard way that the way they’re playing right now is not close to the level they need to be among the contender class. The Thunder, Denver Nuggets and Milwaukee Bucks have all had their way offensively against Golden State, with all three topping 120 points in wins over the Warriors. The relative ease with which those teams carved up the Warriors’ defense is concerning for two players that pride themselves so much on that end of the floor.
The offense has been even worse, with turnovers becoming a major issue of late. Over the last seven games the Warriors’ turnover percentage has jumped to 16.4%, the sixth-worst mark in the league over that span, and their offensive rating has cratered to 109.2 as a result, putting them 24th in the NBA.
It’s one thing to go through a shooting slump, as Golden State has, but compounding poor shooting with turnovers is a disastrous combination. The turnovers also make it tougher to get set on defense and lead to issues on that end of the floor as well. Turnovers are often the product of either a lack of focus or a lack of cohesion, and for the Warriors it appears to be a combination of the two.
Draymond Green calls out ‘personal agendas’ on Warriors
Green called out the lack of teamwork from the Warriors of late after the Thunder loss with some pointed comments toward “personal agendas” he thinks some on the Warriors need to set aside.
“I think everyone has a personal agenda in this league,” Green said. “But you have to make those personal agendas work within the team confines. If it doesn’t work, you kind of got to get rid of your agenda or eventually the agenda is the cause of someone getting rid of you.”
It’s hard not to feel like those words are directed at some of the team’s younger players, as there has been a long-standing divide between the veterans who were part of the championship core and young players not quite as eager to fit in to pre-established roles. That has particularly been a point of tension with Jonathan Kuminga in his Warriors tenure.
Kuminga began the year looking like a new man on the court, doing all the little things the Warriors have wanted from him, but his effectiveness has slipped during this skid. He leads the team with 34 turnovers, with Green close behind with 32, and it seems that all of the good vibes from their hot start have subsided and the long-existing tensions in the locker room were simply papered over by some early wins.
Now, we’ll see if the Warriors will heed Green and Butler’s call to take a collective look in the mirror to figure things out and get back on the same page as a group, or if this skid is just the beginning of a frustrating season in the Bay.
