UH-OH AND TWO
Warriors fall to Bucks in second straight blowout loss to start the season
Opening the season against the Eastern powers Brooklyn and Milwaukee provided an immediate measuring stick for the Warriors. They did not measure up, at all.
A 138-99 loss to Milwaukee on Christmas Day, coupled with the opening night result, means the Warriors have fallen short by 65 points in these two games.
Though rookie center James Wiseman (18 points, eight rebounds, three blocks) and point guard Stephen Curry (19 points and now more than Rick Barry) showed signs of developing a strong two-man game, they got little support from a cast that struggled to make 3-pointers and defend Milwaukee’s shooters.
Bucks forward Khris Middleton helped power a 20- 4 run between the third and fourth quarters that opened up a 35-point lead. The Warriors shot 22 percent from 3- point range (10 of 45) while allowing the Bucks to shoot 54 percent. Reigning MVP
Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 15 points, 13 rebounds and four assists in 27 minutes.
Draymond Green (foot) again did not play. Getting him back on the floor will help the Warriors’ organize the offense and fortify the defense. But Golden State also needs better contributions from its wing tandem of Kelly Oubre Jr. and Andrew Wiggins.
Things might also get better because the next two games on this four-day trip are against the Chicago Bulls on Sunday and the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday.
Here are five takeaways from Friday, starting with the good news:
STEPH IS NO. 2 — WITH A BULLET >> With a three-point basket in the second quarter, on an assist from his brother-in-law Damion Lee, Curry passed Rick Barry as the all-time leading scorer in the franchise’s West Coast era (1962-present).
Curry has 16,458 points. The franchise leader, Wilt Chamberlain, had 17,783. The difference of 1,325 is less than the number of points Curry has scored in all nine of his full seasons.
Also Friday, Curry extended his career record for consecutive made free throws to 55 when he made three in a row in the first quarter.
OFFENSIVE PROBLEMS >> After two smooth days of practice, Steve Kerr was disappointed in the team’s lack of execution Friday. On offense, players were not cutting with purpose or making timely reads, and struggled to find open shots. “It was kind of just scattered and disorganized,” Kerr said.
In particular, Oubre continued to struggle. In his first two games with the Warriors, he has shot 4- of24 overall and missed all 11 of his shots from beyond the arc. As he grapples with developing timing with his new teammates, he’s forcing shots and missing opportunities to make plays.
One big indicator of a timing problem is a lack of open shots. After two games, the Warriors are shooting 25.6% from 3-point range. Many have been contested, but some have been wide open, and those are the ones the Warriors need to make. Kerr will continue to tinker with his rotations until he finds lineups that
click.
On Friday, Kerr went to 3- point shooters Mychal Mulder and Damion Lee earlier than he did Tuesday night in the opener. Kent Bazemore did not check in until the second half.
S ome t i me s , play i n g smaller shooters can come at the sacrifice of defense. “We’d like to get shooters on the floor,” Kerr said, “but we’ve got to do it with the right balance.” DEFENSIVE PROBLEMS >> The Warriors have allowed 33 points or more in six of the eight quarters they have played so far, and points are leaking from beyond the arc and in the paint. They allowed the Nets and Bucks to make 48.6% of their 3-point attempts and score 96 points in the paint. Defending the likes of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Antetokounmpo is understandably difficult, but the Warriors need to improve their communication to wipe away some of the opportunities for opposing role players.
“We’re just throwing this thing together,” Kerr said. “So it’s hard when you don’t have all five guys thinking alike and rotating and playing together.”
Getting on the same page will also help the team create more turnovers and points in transition -- which was supposed to be a fundamental part of this team. Howev er on Friday, they scored just 10 points off turnovers.
WISEMAN SHOWS PROMISE >> At 19 years and nine months, Wiseman became the fourth-youngest player in NBA history to start a Christmas Day game. His numbers (18 points, eight rebounds, three blocks) stand respectably among the others.
LeBron James (2033) had 34 points, two rebounds and six assists.
Kevin Durant (2007, with Seattle) had 23 points, six rebounds, four assists.
Kevin Knox (2018) had 21 points and six rebounds.
With most of the Warriors struggling, Wiseman was the team’s most productive player in the first half. Teammates were using his screens almost every time down the floor, and he was rolling and finishing at the rim and even popped out for a few 3-pointers (3- of- 4 in the game). Kerr called plays for Wiseman to screen for Curry often but, as he said after the game, he needs other players — namely, Oubre and Wiggins — to step up in the same way.
“You could see the impact that it made you know James gets going downhill,” Kerr said. “It’s good stuff, but it’s also exhausting. And so to do that for 48 minutes is not possible. What we need is a better balance.”
Kerr added that Wiseman will see more and more minutes as his conditioning improves. Wiseman also needs to work on recognizing what opponents are doing on offense, communicating on defense and playing at the right pace (not too fast, not too slow). DRAYMOND GREEN INJURY UPDATE >> Green, who accompanied the Warriors on this four-game trip, has been a full participant during practices and is helping coach from the sidelines during games. His return will help the Warriors, but it won’t solve all of their early problems.
“We played two really good teams who have shared championship aspirations — and realistically — and so we got to understand that’s the level that we need to get to,” Curry said. “We’re just not anywhere close to that. So, hopefully he’ll give us a boost. It’s not going to be a cure-all.”