The Golden State Warriors suffered one of the most “humiliating” losses in the franchise’s history on Friday night during a 53-point loss to the Toronto Raptors, a team that came into play after losing 13 of the last 14 games.
“You saw,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after a 130-77 loss. “They destroyed us. Not much to say. Humiliating for everyone involved.”
The Warriors, who lost up to 61 points in the second half, set some dubious records in a game in which both Stephen Curry (tail) and Draymond Green (left finger twisted) were out.
The Raptors outscored the Warriors by 51 points in the second and third quarters, the largest point differential within two quarters of a game in NBA history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Warriors have become the fourth team in 25 seasons to win at least 60 points in a game, according to ESPN Stats and Information. The Raptors’ 53-point margin of victory is also equal to the third-highest in league history for a team that has 10 or more games under 0.500.
“I think the game went fast and we got demoralized,” Kerr said. “I think without Steph and Draymond, I think I was a little helpless when things went wrong. I didn’t have the internal struggle I needed to get over the hump.”
This was evident in a variety of different areas, but offensively, the statistics that might be most disturbing to the Warriors is that they have become the only team in the last 25 years that has lost a game by at least 50 points and did not score. a purpose. quick break point. They had only one counterattack throughout the game and missed it. This is an important reason why Kerr was so frustrated by the lack of movement of the ball by his team.
“Our team was built to split the ball,” Kerr said. “When you move the ball in this game, then the magic happens, when you build an energy, a karma, the shots tend to intervene if you move the ball and share it. And I just saw one possession after another tonight. It was a pass and a “We have to play for each other and I didn’t think we’d do that tonight.”
The Warriors, now 23-26, are 10th in the Western Conference and have struggled all season to find consistency. Last week, veteran Kevon Looney admitted that Curry and Green shared messages with their colleagues about looking inside and trying to play better. After Friday’s embarrassing show, veteran Kent Bazemore said former All-Star injured Klay Thompson shared some frustrating thoughts with several teammates after the game.
“It’s a hard pill to swallow,” Bazemore said of the Warriors’ three central players. “We’re talking about – and Klay is there too, these guys have five consecutive appearances in the final. This is not acceptable to them at all. This hurts them more than anything. Klay fired after And this was the longest two “He finds it hard to see his boys there without him being able to help. So I think a fire broke out under him, and Steph and Draymond, they know how important they are to us.”
For Thompson, the loss was even harder to track, given that he is currently in rehabilitation due to an Achilles tendon injury that forced him to miss the second consecutive season. Bazemore said Thompson’s message to some teammates was simple.
“He was just talking about how the game was lost and that such a loss is not acceptable,” Bazemore said. “He’s excited, man. Hard to watch, whether you play or not.”
The good news for the Warriors is that they expect Curry to return on Sunday against the Atlanta Hawks. Green’s status remains unclear, as he was originally expected to play on Friday, but after trying to warm up, he told coaching staff that he could not catch the ball with his left hand due to a finger injury. Green told Kerr he could play, but the veteran coach made the decision for Green to sit down.
While the warriors are waiting for the stars to recover, they have a problem with the young center that they hoped to help this season. James Wiseman, 20, had another tough night against the Raptors, fighting at both ends of the field, which has been a constant theme since the All-Star break. Kerr said the Warriors would like to simplify parts of Wiseman’s game plan so they can regain their confidence.
“As a young player, a lot of guys try to do too much,” Kerr said. “I think that’s what’s happening to James right now. I think he’s a very talented guy and he’s always managed to do what he wanted to do on the field, but in the NBA, the game happens so fast that you just have it all. to “be good at the things I can be good at now and then my game will expand as we move forward.” And that’s what we’re trying to share with James and teach him.
“But the only way to learn that is by feeling it and feeling it. Then he will grow from here and we will stay positive with him, we will try to clarify things and keep things really simple and help him build his confidence in the last quarter of the season “.
While the warriors hope to see more development in the general selection section no. 2 of the 2020 draft, they do this with a group that reached the lowest point of their season on Friday night. Kerr hopes his team will return after two losses in a row, but he also understands that each player must find the motivation to get things back on track before it’s too late.
“As a coach, try to navigate the season with your team as well as you can,” Kerr said. “So there are moments for humor, there are moments for joy, there are moments for serious discussion and self-examination. This is a time for self-examination, for sure.”