Lots of frustration, little focus as OKC routs Golden State
With five games until the All-Star break, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told his players Monday morning that mental fatigue no longer could be an excuse.
He then took Golden State through an intensive practice focused on defensive concepts and fundamentals. The message was clear: To ensure the Warriors are at their best come the playoffs, they first must squash the bad habits beginning to resurface in early February.
It didn’t seem to resonate come tip-off Tuesday night, however. In its 125-105 loss to Oklahoma City at Oracle Arena, Golden State reached a nadir, failing to lead in a home game for the first time since April 2012.
“It was a rough night,” guard Stephen Curry said, pausing before repeating himself. “It was a rough night.”
The Warriors committed 25 turnovers, one shy of their season high, that resulted in 38 Thunder points. A Golden State team known for its long-range accuracy missed 20 of its 28 three-point attempts. And thanks largely to the fact that it hoisted 16 more shots than the Warriors, Oklahoma City rid the game of doubt early, not looking back after it built a 20point, second-quarter lead.
Paul George (38 points) and Russell Westbrook (34 points, nine rebounds, nine assists) shouldered the offensive load on a night Carmelo Anthony was limited to six minutes by a sprained right ankle. Though Kevin Durant (33 points) and Curry (21) tried to will Golden State back within striking distance, they got little help from their teammates.
Now, with four games remaining until the break, the Warriors are slogging through their biggest stretch of adversity this season. They have lost three of their past four games, including two in a row, after winning seven of their previous eight. Can they return to form in time for Thursday night’s game against Dallas, or will they continue to unravel as they await their tropical vacations?
“Maybe it was the complacency,” guard Klay Thompson said. “Now we’ve really got something to play for with Houston being tied in the loss column with us. We’ve got to take every game very seriously like it’s our last.”
Kerr conceded after Friday’s turnover-marred win in Sacramento that his team was “mentally fried” and “dying to get to the All-Star break” in two weeks. The Warriors followed that with a better effort Saturday in Denver, only to fade down the stretch in a 115-108 loss.
Then there they were Tuesday, forcing ill-advised passes, getting livid over the officiating and watching helplessly as Westbrook turned the game into a real-life version of NBA 2K18. The reigning NBA MVP could do little wrong, oscillating between step-back three-pointers, vicious dunks and mid-range jumpers, as he needed only 11 shots to score 21 of Oklahoma City’s 42 first-quarter points.
It didn’t matter that the Thunder’s best defender (Andre Roberson) was out with a ruptured left patella tendon, their 10-time All-Star (Anthony) didn’t return after leaving midway through the first quarter with an ankle injury, or their starting center (Steven Adams) was limited by early foul trouble. Midway through the second quarter, Golden State was staring down a 20-point hole.
Unlike numerous times this season, when they greeted a big halftime deficit with a gamechanging blitz, the Warriors continued to make the same tired mistakes in the third quarter. Though their defensive tightened, their repeated giveaways doomed any chance of a comeback.
Midway through the third quarter, George caught the ball at the top of the arc, threw off Durant with two crossovers and drilled a step-back three-pointer. Less than a minute later, while George was turning him into a poster on a one-handed dunk, Golden State center Zaza Pachulia pushed George out of desperation and sent him to the foul line.
The frustration extended to the crowd. Late in the third, after Durant was called for a foul after Westbrook slipped on the floor, untouched by Durant, some fans chanted, “REFS, YOU SUCK! REFS, YOU SUCK!”
“We were way worse than the officials,” said Kerr, whose team totaled five technical fouls. “We got completely outplayed. We were on our heels right from the beginning of the game, and that’s on us.”
Midway through the fourth quarter, Draymond Green was ejected for getting his second technical of the night for arguing with referee Lauren Holtkamp. Green, who leads the league with 13 technical fouls, shook his head and chuckled before disappearing through the tunnel.
It was that type of night for the Warriors: Out of answers, they could only laugh at the absurdity. Golden State has lost two games to the Thunder this season by a combined 37 points.
“We just keep fighting, man,” Curry said. “It’s a long season. We know how to win. … No one’s jumping ship right now. No one’s panicking. We know who we are.”