When looking for the root of the Warriors’ current struggles, where do you start?
Is it because Draymond Green is still out? Is it because Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins are struggling to supplement Steph Curry? Is it because the defense can't stop any legit big man? Is it because Steve Kerr’s rotations have been thrown out of whack by the ever-changing roster situation this season?
All of those things could be connected, which is ironic, because that’s the thing missing from the Warriors right now: connectivity. Kerr said as much after Tuesday night’s lackluster 129-114 road loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Ditto for Warriors superstar Curry, who agreed with Kerr’s comments after the game.
“We have a lot of different rotations and lineups and we’re trying to make adjustments on the fly,” Curry said. “We have to be more in sync as a five-man unit, whoever’s out there.”
The Warriors are 27-6 when Draymond Green is healthy this season and look like one of the most dangerous teams in the league when everything is humming. But Golden State has now dropped six of eight and is 16-13 in the 29 games he’s been sidelined. Considering Draymond might not be back for a couple more weeks, he could end up missing half the season.
Without Green, a lot has become disjointed. When Steph isn’t on the floor, the Warriors just play like they’re waiting for someone else to do something on offense.
It seems like Wiggins hasn’t been able to find open shots and is settling into bad habits of eating possessions and shooting contested mid-range jumpers. He rattled off eight early points but then was pretty much a ghost from the Warriors’ offense the rest of the way, finishing with 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting with seven rebounds and four assists. Wiggins also got caught overhelping on a crucial 3-pointer by Jordan McLaughlin in the third quarter.
respect the JMac J 🎯 pic.twitter.com/O3bgD7ToAg
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 2, 2022
Most agree that the Warriors got the best of the 2020 trade that sent D’Angelo Russell to Minnesota for Wiggins and a draft pick that ended up being Jonathan Kuminga. But Russell got bragging rights on Tuesday night, as he hit a fourth-quarter 3-pointer over Kuminga and in front of the Warriors’ bench to push the lead to 16 and usher in garbage time.
FOURTH QUARTER LO 🧊 pic.twitter.com/YKpQrdPaXw
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 2, 2022
"We'll figure it out," Wiggins said. "That's what good teams do. We're in a little funk right now but I'm sure we'll break through soon."
Poole has been particularly quiet over his past 10 contests since dropping 31 on the San Antonio Spurs, as he’s averaged 12.2 points while shooting 42 percent from the field in that span. It’s been particularly rough from 3-point range, where he went 1-for-6 on Tuesday and is shooting just 23.5 percent over his past 10. Poole scored five of his 12 points in mop-up duty and finished with a -21 in the plus/minus column over 27 minutes.
The Warriors are expecting Wiggins to play like an All-Star and Poole to play like a sixth man of the year candidate, but the duo has been ice cold lately. Still, Kerr remains steadfast in his confidence in the two key supporting players and largely sidestepped questions regarding their recent struggles.
“It’s impossible to go through an entire season in a groove,” Kerr said. “Stuff goes up and down. I’m not concerned about those guys.”
Minnesota didn’t even have hobbled rising star Anthony Edwards (left patella) and his 21.4 points per game but still dropped 129 on the Dubs’ defense. Once again, Golden State got cooked inside by a big man, as Karl-Anthony Towns popped off for 39 points and nine rebounds while generally having his way against smaller players like Kuminga and Juan Toscano-Anderson. Kevon Looney had his moments against Towns defensively but couldn't do much on the offensive end. Looney (two points), Otto Porter Jr. (two points) and Toscano-Anderson (four points) finished with eight points and 13 rebounds combined in 66 total minutes.
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Gary Payton II played through a nagging shin injury but he registered a team-best +15 in plus/minus with 14 points in 27 minutes. The defensive whiz said the team needs more collective energy, while citing the difficulty of playing with a musical chairs rotation.
"A lot of different lineups,” Payton said. “We just gotta work with those lineups and learn how to play through each other with different personnel on the court. ... It's hard without Draymond and Iggy but we gotta step up."
Once starter Moses Moody was sidelined in the first quarter by a left eye contusion, the Warriors had nine healthy players, as two-way players Quinndary Weatherspoon and Chris Chiozza were unavailable. Nemanja Bjelica was scratched due to a right quad contusion, Klay Thompson missed his second straight game due to illness and Green (back) and James Wiseman (knee) remain out. Considering the team is also limiting Porter's availability as he manages his achy back and knee injuries, it’s been a mix-and-match on a nightly basis for Kerr, especially since Thompson returned and Green got injured on Jan. 9.
Positionless basketball can be a beautiful thing when executed correctly, but can also lead to a lot of hollow possessions in dire need of direction. Beyond Steph, this team doesn't have much of a facilitator without Green.
Injuries are part of the game, though. You can say they’re the root of all the problems, but the Warriors are being defeated with a similar tune lately – shoddy defense and a streaky offense that goes cold around Steph. Kerr’s jumbled rotations are out of necessity at this point and only add to the feeling that this team is just spinning its wheels ‘til Draymond comes back. Kerr needs to adapt just like the players need to adapt in order to find some stability.
The Warriors are officially reeling heading into Thursday night’s contest against the Dallas Mavericks, with the upstart Memphis Grizzlies just 0.5 games back in Western Conference race.
