By: Adrian Jacobs
The Golden State Warriors are statistically the second best team in the Western Conference, chasing the Phoenix Suns with a 32-13 Win/Loss record. All the way up until January 5th, the Warriors dominated the league, winning 29 out of 36 of their games, with an 80% winning percentage. Warriors star player, Steph Curry, led the team with many 30+ point games, five 40+ point games, and the usual crazy half-court shots he always seems to pull out of nowhere.
On Thursday, the Golden State Warriors lost to the Indiana Pacers in overtime 117-121. With 6 seconds left in the 4th Quarter, Justin Holiday hit a game-tying three to make the game 110-110. Juan Toscano-Anderson took the ball down the court with the opportunity of winning it for the Warriors on a buzzer beater but unfortunately missed a well-defended layup, sending the game to overtime. Curry dropped 39 points, his highest since December 23rd, but was cold in overtime, missing all 4 of his attempted field goals. In a game the Warriors were expected to win by -16.5 points, it turned out to be a devastating loss.
Recently, the team has suffered, losing 6 out of 9 of their past games. Fans brainstormed all the possible reasons behind this drought of wins and came up with many possibilities, but two, in particular, stood out. First, many believe the absence of power forward, Draymond Green, has led to the collapse of the Warriors’ offense and defense. Green is out with a calf and back injury and is not expected to play for another couple of weeks. He has been on the Warriors for quite some time and is the most knowledgeable when it comes to their plays. He also is always in the defensive player of the year talk, proving his impactfulness on the Warriors’ defense. With him out, the team has been struggling to get points scored and prevented.
Next, with the return of guard, Klay Thompson, some fans think this has altered the Warriors’ rotation. Rotation means when a team subs, different squads on the courts, and who takes the shots. Thompson hasn’t been playing to his potential in the last 9 games with low shooting percentages and multiple turnovers. Once he flips these mistakes upside down, people are scared of how great this team could be.
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