John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
Three and a half minutes into the third quarter, down by 27, Damion Lee dribbled his way left looking to turn the corner, and the ball popped out from under him and out of bounds. He looked to the jumbotron, to the ceiling, to the sky, and let out a curse as loud as he could. The third-year guard exhaled and never backpedaled, instead picking Donovan Mitchell up fullcourt in an attempt to right his wrong.
Hustle is great. But when it’s the only skill present, there is a much bigger problem at hand.
The Jazz (31-13), legitimate West contenders, annihilated the Warriors on Wednesday, 129-96, in front of an announced sellout crowd of 18,064 at Chase Center, even if the seats were so empty and mouths so shut Lee’s outburst could be heard by all. It was the 12th loss in 13 games for the Warriors (10-36), who are assuring that even with an early-March Stephen Curry return, they will have some of the best odds in this offseason’s lottery.
The new-era Warriors have never valued the big man, a franchise that has helped revolutionize perimeter shooting. But perhaps a center could make sense with that draft pick, which is where the takeaways begin after a game that was settled by the second quarter:
Re-bound to fail
In so many ways, the Warriors can’t size up against the NBA’s best — or even the NBA’s middle of the pack.
Including the literal way.
Utah, led by potential All-Star Rudy Gobert, swarmed the boards, both bigger and hungrier for 50-50 balls that never seemed to go Golden State’s way. Gobert came away with 22 points (on 13 shots) and 15 rebounds. Omari Spellman did not get a rebound until 3:35 remained in the game — he finished with two. Marquese Chriss pulled down eight, and next on the team was Alec Burks with six. In all, the Warriors were outrebounded 56-37.
Gobert dunked right after the Warriors broadcast did a segment on their new sensory room… the commentators’ reaction is an all-time great ?????? pic.twitter.com/Jwtq0AC2hA
— brayden ?? (@bdawgg814) January 23, 2020
Meanwhile, any center the Warriors trotted out played small, allowing a 32-18 rebound deficit at the half that made the second half elementary. It’s been a theme of late: Portland’s Hassan Whiteside poured in 17 points to go with 21 rebounds on Monday. Last week’s matchup with the Nuggets saw Nikola Jokic go for 23 and 12. The perennially small Warriors have run into a big problem; when the shots aren’t falling, they have no way to out-opportunity opponents. And in a game in which they shot just 39.8 percent from the field, they never had a chance.
D-nied
If you can’t rebound and can’t shoot, defense is the only avenue to take to win games — or at least be competitive. Neither happened Wednesday.
“They’re really on a hot streak right now,” Steve Kerr said, accurately, before the game of the Jazz, who have won 18 of 20. But a lot of teams could be sizzling with the kind of open looks they got at Chase Center.
Gobert was dominant, 10-of-13 from the field. Bojan Bogdanovic poured in 18 on 14 shots. Mitchell went 8-for-13 to bring his tally to 23 points.
The Jazz shot 50-of-93 (53.8 percent), and that was with their foot affixed to the brakes for much of the second half.
It won’t get much easier from here, as the Warriors welcome the Pacers on Friday before traveling for games in Philadelphia and Boston.
D upside
Because this couldn’t be all fire and brimstone, let’s take a minute to recognize the only Warriors player who was worth watching.
D’Angelo Russell opened cold, just two points in the first quarter, before exploding for seven in a minute and a half in the second. But that burst cut a 17-point deficit to 16.
Russell has not allowed the team’s woes to affect him, posting numbers akin to last season’s All-Star year in Brooklyn and upping his trade value in the process — even if a deal isn’t likely during this season. Wednesday was not the best example of his playing within the offense — he finished with three assists and three rebounds — but still sunk 10-of-21 shots for 26 points.
He doesn’t exactly make the team watchable — the most exciting moment may have been Chriss’ and Tony Bradley’s matching ejections to close the game — but he does make it easier to stomach.