The Warriors’ floundering title defense could drop to a historic low on Monday night.
If Golden State loses to the Rockets in Houston on Monday, the team will have matched the 1998-1999 Bulls for most consecutive road losses the season after winning an NBA championship. The Warriors’ road record — they’re currently 7-29 away from the Chase Center — has been confounding all year.
Frustrations once again surfaced in Saturday’s 133-119 loss in Memphis, as Klay Thompson was seen flashing his fingers from the bench, reminding the upstart Grizzlies of GSW’s four championships. That was Golden State’s 11th straight road loss, a streak that spans back to Feb. 1, when they fell to Minnesota in overtime.
In that stretch, the Warriors have lost to the Timberwolves, Nuggets, Clippers (twice), Lakers (twice), Blazers, Thunder, Grizzlies (twice), and Hawks.
On the season, the Warriors go from having a stout defense to a horrible one when they leave the Bay Area. At home, they allow 111.7 points per game to 124.5 on the road.
Even before their last three road losses, the Warriors had one of the most dramatic home-road record discrepancies in NBA history — defending champion or otherwise.
“I’ve never seen anything like this, with such dramatic splits of home and road,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said last week on Copes & Dieter.
Five of the Warriors’ last 10 games of the season come on the road, including Monday night in Houston. Golden State is currently 36-36, two games from the four seed and one game out of the 11-seed, which would put them out of the playoff picture.