Make that two duds to open season
Frustrations boil over in nightmarish loss at OKC
OKLAHOMA CITY >> Warriors guard D’Angelo Russell took a wide step to his right, bounced off Thunder guard Chris Paul and made a contested floater before hitting the floor. Then, believing he was fouled, Russell popped up and made a bee-line for referee James Williams and unloaded a verbal onslaught. Russell was ejected from the game. At the time, five minutes into the second half, the Warriors trailed by 32 points. Russell later admitted his emotions got the best of him. After all, it’s been a frustrating start to the season.
The Warriors lost 120-92 to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday, starting the season with two straight losses. Frustrations boiled
over in a game that, like the opening night loss to the Clippers, was out of reach early. During the game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr kicked the scorers table and guard Stephen Curry debated a technical all before Russell was ejected in the third quarter.
“There’s frustration all around,” Kerr said after the game.
Golden State fell behind 15-3 early and, by halftime, trailed the Thunder 70-37. By the fourth quarter, they fell behind by as many as 42 points. This, after trailing by 30-plus points for much of the second half in the season-opening loss to the Clippers.
The poor shooting that plagued the Warriors against the Clippers last Thursday continued, with the team shooting just 32.6% overall and missing 28 of their 33 3-point attempts. Defense was again an issue, with the Thunder shooting 55.7% overall and 46.9% beyond the arc.
Without centers Kevon Looney (hamstring) and Willie Cauley-Stein (foot), the Warriors started Marquese Chriss at center and struggled to keep the Thunder
away from the rim, giving up 46 points in the paint.
“I’ve said for years when everybody loved our offense, it wasn’t our offense that was making us great, it was our defense,” said forward Draymond Green. “Our defense right now is non-existent. Yeah, I don’t even think we know what defense is right now.”
Through two games, the Warriors have the worstrated defense in the league, giving up 124.3 points per 100 possessions. It’s not even close. The next worst defensive team, the Charlotte Hornets, are giving up nearly seven fewer points per 100 possessions.
Leaking points to the robust Clippers is one thing but, after trading stars Russell Westbrook and Paul George over the summer, the Thunder entered the game with the worst-rated offense in the league.
Guard Dennis Schroder and forward Danilo Galinari led the offensive surge with 22 points and 21 points respectively. Second-year guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — the centerpiece of the trade that sent George to the Clippers — had 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Curry finished with 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists in 30 minutes and Green had 10 points, six rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes. Like they were against the Clippers, both were pulled out of the game in the fourth quarter.
Green’s patience is being tested.
“I would like to see us play harder, that would help a little bit, but the reality is we (expletive) suck right now,” he said. “Hopefully we will get better. We will continue working at it and try to get better, but we’re just not that good right now.”
Green has never been in a situation like this, and his patience is wearing thin, as evidenced by his recent post-game comments. On going through a rebuild, Green said.
“It sucks. I guess just about everybody except Tim Duncan has been through it. But it sucks. Pretty bad.”
Added Kerr, “We had just an incredible amount of roster turnover and the loss of guys who had years and years of service in this league and institutional knowledge. So we have to build that back up with these young guys.”