As of Tuesday night, the Warriors had not won an away game in over a month. Their last win outside of the Chase Center came on January 30 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Warriors’ journey to OKC wasn’t so kind to them this time.
Another slow start put the Warriors in another big hole as they lost 137-128, dropping them to 7-25 on the road this season.
Steph Curry (40 points) and Klay Thompson (23 points) combined for 63 points. The Splash Brothers also made 15 3-pointers and went 15 of 29 from deep. However, the Warriors’ love of long ball didn’t translate well for the rest of the team.
Non-Curry and Thompson players went over the arch 5 out of 22.
Kevon Looney entered the game questionably but played his 177th straight game of the regular season. However, the veteran center came off the bench with Jonathan Kuminga in the starting XI. The 20-year-old had 21 points (8 of 11 from the field) with three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ second straight loss on their three-game road trip.
Street strips continue
How bad have the Warriors been this season? A pair of ugly road stripes continued with their latest loss.
The Warriors are now 0-16 on the road if behind after the first quarter. The defending champions are now 0:19 away when they are behind after three quarters. Both are troubling, but the slow starts are the most alarming.
This loss marked the 10th straight game in which the Warriors did not take a lead after the first quarter. The last time they did it was on Feb. 11 against the Los Angeles Lakers when they went 22-21 into the second quarter. No matter how much scoring a team has, a consistent early deficit is a recipe for disaster.
What hurt the Warriors the most was what hurt them the most all season: turnovers and free throws.
Golden State wasted 21 turnovers and Oklahoma City capitalized by 26 points. The Thunder took two free throws in the first half. In the third quarter alone, they then shot 15. Yikes!
Along with all that, the Warriors have now lost seven straight road games and will now face the Grizzlies in Memphis on Thursday.
Steph tries to save the dubs
How can the Warriors start the first quarter better? Feed Steph Curry.
The Warriors superstar provided six assists for his teammates in the first quarter. He only fired one shot. Surprise, surprise – it was a made 3-pointer.
Curry went into halftime with 14 points from six shot attempts and just one miss. He then scored 15 points in the third quarter, followed by another 11 in the fourth quarter. Steph scored 26 points in the second half and went off the field in the last two quarters for 9 of 17 overall.
Curry played his second game back after a leg injury that saw him miss 11 straight games, amassed 40 points on 14-of-23 shooting and made 10 of his 16 three-pointers. That gave him five games with at least 40 points this season, and his 10 triples were a season-high.
Even that wasn’t enough. The Warriors are now 51-10 all-time if Curry scores 40 or more points in a regular-season game.
cause for concern?
There’s no reason to live in the past. Everyone knows how the Warriors’ season began. Especially between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole.
But towards the end of the first half and the Warriors lost by one, there was an ugly scene on the court between these two. Green cut to the hoop and appeared open. Poole didn’t see him, however. Things went in the wrong direction there.
Draymond waved his hands in the air angrily and then just walked off the pitch and didn’t run back to the defense at all. Take care.
He’s very lucky that the Thunder took advantage of an easy opportunity on the other side. They missed four easy tries around the basket before the Warriors finally got away with a rebound. Meanwhile, Green stayed on the other side of the square.
Despite the practice punch that can be heard in the basketball world, these two have had great on-court chemistry this season. Not in this case. As a leader, Green can’t act like that on court and he needs to know that. Talk to Jordan about missing him on the bench or in the dressing room at halftime instead of showing such frustration on the floor.
RELATED: Steph, Klay still confident in Warriors’ playoff chances
This might just be a blip in the regular season’s path. Still, having the Warriors begging for road wins isn’t what Steve Kerr or anyone else is looking for.
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