Subpar defense dooms Warriors in loss
Beneath the errant threepoint shots and parade of turnovers, a problem resurfaced for the Warriors in Wednesday night’s 113-93 loss to Toronto at Oracle Arena.
They didn’t play much defense.
Here’s one telling snapshot: Toronto’s Kyle Lowry drove the baseline in the third quarter, drew three defenders and made a slick bounce pass to Serge Ibaka in the lane. He uncorked an emphatic dunk as all three Warriors players watched, befuddled and strangely stationary.
That was a common sight Wednesday night — the Raptors scored 58 points in the paint.
“We didn’t really bring the level of intensity we needed until the start of the third quarter,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “That was the first sign of life with our defense, but at that point, we were swimming upstream. You can’t wait until halftime to start defending against the team with the best record in the league.”
Another issue: Warriors point guard Stephen Curry often got beat off the dribble, sometimes by Lowry and other times by Danny Green. Curry is not exactly his team’s strongest defensive player, anyway, but he especially struggled against the Raptors.
He was not alone. The Raptors repeatedly moved the ball crisply and found their way into the lane for layups.
“No matter if shots go in or not, our defense has to be what saves us on those types of nights,” Curry said. “That’s not what happened tonight.”
Asked what caused the defensive breakdowns, Curry said, “It was somewhat just mental lapses. They space the floor and like to drive and kick, so sometimes you’re hesitant to help in the paint because you don’t want to give up open threes. But when we’re at our best, we can cover pretty much everything. They took advantage of our mental lapses early.”
Golden State’s defense has been curiously mediocre all season. The Warriors stand 16th in the NBA in defensive rating; they finished in the top six in each of Kerr’s first three seasons, then slipped to 11th last season (but cranked it up in the playoffs).
So Kerr was heartened by his team’s defensive effort Friday night in Milwaukee, against the league’s highestscoring team. The Warriors smothered the Bucks, holding them to a season-low 95 points, more than 23 below their average.
Kerr called it “one of the highlights of the season for me.”
The timing was tantalizing, too, with Draymond Green — one of the NBA’s best defensive players — returning to action Monday night after missing 11 games because of a sprained big toe. But the Warriors played unevenly on defense in Green’s first game back, a win over Minnesota, and even more sluggishly Wednesday night.
Toronto set the tone in the first half. The Warriors offered modest resistance as the Raptors shot 51 percent from the field and built a 57-41 lead.
The Warriors couldn’t contain Lowry, who struggled mightily in a recent four-game stretch (4-for-28 from the field) while fighting back soreness. Lowry then busted loose for 21 points Tuesday in a win over the Clippers (on 8-for-13 shooting), helping the Raptors overcome Kawhi Leonard’s absence. Leonard also missed Wednesday night’s game because of hip soreness. And Lowry went right back to work, sinking two difficult, early shots over 6foot-7 Klay Thompson. That’s no easy feat, given Thompson’s defensive ability and his 6-inch height advantage.
Lowry scored 14 points in the first half, prompting the Warriors to try a novel strategy. They put Kevin Durant on Lowry in the third quarter, hoping Durant’s 7-5 wingspan would bother him — and it did for a few possessions, as the Warriors briefly ratcheted up their defense.
But it didn’t last. Lowry finished with 23 points and 12 assists as the Raptors rolled.