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BOSTON — Draymond Green threw on a sweatsuit, slipped on his sneakers, and snapped on a purple-banded timepiece.
This was the arena in which he celebrated his fourth world championship. This night, he was in a rush to catch the first bus out.
Much has changed since 2022. Then, the Warriors were on top of the world. Now, they’ve slipped into 10th place in the Western Conference.
“Damn, did we? That sucks,” Green said.
After a blowout, 120-99 defeat to the Celtics, the Warriors (33-36) faced reality. Steve Kerr admitted that the team is a lock for the play-in round — “We know that, one way or another” — so they need to lock in. They’ve lost six of their last seven games and have gone 6-13 since Steph Curry’s runner’s knee sidelined the superstar.
The play-in might’ve become the Warriors’ destiny when Jimmy Butler suffered his season-ending torn ACL on Jan. 4. It definitely looked like fait accompli as the weeks piled up on Curry’s recovery. Now, it’s all but official: for the third straight year, the Warriors will enter the postseason seeded between seventh and 10th.
And right now, they look much closer to a 10 than a seven-seed.
“We have to be prepared for when we get guys back,” Kerr said. “When Steph’s back and Moses [Moody] and Al [Horford]. If we’re prepared when they get back, we can do some damage. We can go on a run. But we can’t have game plan mistakes. We’ve got to build better habits.”
In the Warriors’ latest defeat, they shot just 23% from behind the 3-point line and coughed up 14 turnovers. Kerr mentioned their lack of boxing out, transition efficiency, and defensive breakdowns as major mistakes.
Most damning, though, was Golden State’s failure to execute its defensive game plan – especially early in the game.
At morning shootaround, the Warriors reviewed the Celtics’ flare-dive actions. Those are when a player sets an off-ball screen for his teammates, but slips toward the rim for a cutting layup.
Like, this play from the second quarter.
Source: NBA.com
Brandin Podziemski, guarding Derrick White, needed to stay attached to White while seeing both him and the ball. Warriors coaches probably relayed that message to him and everyone else hours prior.
The Warriors also happened to give up a similar look on the same action on the very first possession of the game, though Kristaps Porzingis swallowed it up with a block.
The Warriors also let Jaylen Brown get going early, giving the Finals MVP confidence; he scored 19 of his 32 points in the first quarter. And Porzingis’ drop coverage allowed Jayson Tatum to step into easy 3-pointers in the pick-and-roll.
Getting back-cut, on a flare-dive or otherwise, must’ve been frustrating for Kerr, who intentionally tried to drill it. Maybe even extra annoying when the Warriors have been doing the very same thing to their opponents for years.
Source: NBA.com
“We completely messed up coverages three times in the first quarter,” Kerr said. “Cannot do that. Cannot happen. You want to win a playoff game? You better be locked in. So, locked in. And part of being locked in isn’t just the mental part of it, but it’s the spiritual part. How ready are you? How confident are you? How together are you? And like I said, it’s easy when you’re beaten up to kind of hang your head. We just can’t hang our head.”
Wednesday was Porzingis’ second start as a Warrior and his first game in Boston since he left the Celtics (opens in new tab). He has said his conditioning is improving, game by game, but he thinks he’ll need a couple more weeks to return to peak performance.
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Porzingis’ start to the game was electric: a deep 3-pointer, two blocks, and a steal. But he finished 4-for-13 with 11 points in 22 minutes.
“I didn’t feel my best today,” Porzingis said. “Last game, I’d say, I felt better. But I expect with each game to kind of get closer and closer. And honestly, that’s the trajectory I actually feel now.”
Porzingis’ health is a constant question. But, unlike many of his teammates, he’s been on the court recently.
Curry, out since Jan. 30, has gone through on-court individual workouts in consecutive days, and the team will have an update on Saturday. He’s trending toward returning to the court before April.
There was hope that Moody could return from his sprained wrist at some point during this eight-day road trip, but that’s looking unlikely. He has been going through practices with a brace on his shooting hand and therefore taking left-handed jumpers, though he was seen pregame lifting weights with his injured, brace-less wrist.
Horford, meanwhile, has a calf strain that will sideline him at least a week. That particular injury can be tricky for anyone, let alone a 39-year-old center.
In the meantime, it’s up to players like Gui Santos, De’Anthony Melton, Podziemski, Green, and Porzingis to try to forge an identity.
The shorthanded Warriors have played consistently hard in the nearly seven weeks without Curry. Effort hasn’t been an issue, and it has led to some wins, including against the Nuggets and Rockets. They were even recently up 20 at Madison Square Garden and hung tight with the defending champion Thunder.
But they’ve also dropped games to the Bulls and Jazz. They looked miserable at home against Minnesota and were uncompetitive in the Boston Garden.
“What I’m most interested in is our process,” Kerr said. “And I thought it was lacking in some areas tonight. We’ve got to tighten some things up.”
The Warriors remain determined to get healthy, advance through the play-in round, and take a swing in a first-round series. Curry returning is the key to that. Porzingis maintaining his health is another necessity. They won’t scare anyone without both Moody and Horford.
But if all those players return and the shorthanded players play like they did against Boston, none of it will matter. Even the most talented teams need game plan discipline. The Warriors are far from that now, and won’t have the talent advantage in a series even with Curry back.
Building momentum now by developing practices that will translate to the full-strength squad is paramount.
“Just got to create good habits,” Green said. “You create good habits, it all works out. You ain’t creating good habits — you can’t flip a switch in this league. So, create good habits and you compete at a high level, get those guys back, you’ll be ready for it. Don’t do that? Won’t be ready.”
The Warriors might be backing into the play-in. But they can’t let themselves get back-cut into it.