(Via @WorldWideWob)
This one wasn’t all that complicated. Without Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, the Warriors (23-26) were not competitive in a 130-77 loss to the Toronto Raptors in Tampa, FL. The injury plagued Raptors (19-30) are mired in struggles of their own, entering Friday having lost their last four and 13 of their last 14. They looked like they were playing a college team on Friday, however, leading at one point by 61 points in the second half. If Warriors fans, and the Warriors themselves, never think of this game again, it would probably be for the best. Before you erase your memory, here are three takeaways:
Near historic loss
The Warriors’ worst ever loss in franchise history is 63 points. The worst ever loss in NBA history is 68. The Warriors narrowly avoided the record books, but it’s unnerving how close they came. In the second and third quarters combined, Golden State was outscored 81 to 30. That’s a 50-point difference in 24 minutes. In the first seven minutes of the third quarter, they were outscored 34-7. The Raptors went on a 20-1 run in the second quarter. It’s the ugliest game the Warriors have played this season, and one of the ugliest NBA performances in recent memory.
Everything was bad. Only two players, Andrew Wiggins and Alan Smailagic, shot over 50 percent. The Warriors as a team shot 32.9 percent from the field, 32.4 percent from three. They turned the ball over 21 times. They had one less fouls (17), than assist (18).
The Warriors have now lost 6 of their last 7, and are in a free fall in the Western Conference playoff standings, a half game up on the Kings in the 10th spot, the final spot for the play-in tournament.
Injury issues continue
There probably isn’t an excuse to lose by 53 points, but Stephen Curry and Draymond Green being absent on Friday night didn’t help. Curry was held out as a precaution, still recovering from a bruised tailbone that was particularly sore after playing 36 minutes on Thursday night. He’s expected to return on Sunday vs. the Hawks.
Green’s absence was more of a surprise. He was assumed to be active after hurting his finger on Friday and was announced in the starting lineup. He was not out at the beginning of the game, however, and was scratched after tip-off with what the team is calling a left finger sprain.
Nobody expects the Warriors to be any good without Curry and Green, but their lack of talent without those two is a bit staggering, and shows just how top heavy this roster is. It’s also a bit of an indictment of Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre, who while being talented, are just not cut out the play the role of alpha dog.
The Wiggins and Wiseman conundrums
On one had it’s weird to criticize Wiggins (15 points), as he was the Warriors’ best player on Friday by default. It’s fair to criticize him, however, for the same reason he’s been criticized his entire career: Lack of aggressiveness.
With Curry out, Wiggins has to be the Warriors best offensive player to be competitive. He can’t take nine shots. On Friday, he took nine shots.
Wiggins made five of those, and four more from the line. Certainly, even if he doubled or tripled his output it wouldn’t have been enough, but it’s an example of what makes Wiggins, who has been shooting lights out since the All-Star break, so frustrating.
James Wiseman is also frustrating to watch right now, and at 19 years old, that’s entirely reasonable. He should probably look better than he did on Friday, however, scoring just 9 points and grabbing 5 rebounds in 31 minutes on 4-of-11 shooting. That was technically better than last night’s performance, where Wiseman went 1-of-5 in 20 minutes.
Wiseman’s confidence is at an all-time low during this tough rookie season, a development that is far more troubling than his production. Steve Kerr says the only way to turn that around is to play him. That’s almost certainly true, but Wiseman will have to get himself out of this brutal stretch before that happens.