No matter the injury, no matter the opponent, the 2019-20 Golden State Warriors have played a gritty brand of basketball. They’ve continually battled wire-to-wire against teams with more experience and more talent across the board.
Before taking off on their recent five-game road trip, Golden State was playing some of its best basketball of the season, making it even more impressive was the fact they only had eight-healthy players at times.
On the road trip, the Warriors were slated to play a handful of similarly struggling NBA teams, but instead of rising, Golden State stalled. The Warriors ended the road trip with a 1-4 record, salvaging their only win in the final game of the trip in Chicago.
The Warriors were able to steal a win at the end of the trip, while also getting back injured players like D’Angelo Russell, Kevon Looney, Draymond Green and Jacob Evans before facing the six-win, Memphis Grizzlies at home.
The Warriors had their healthiest lineup since the opening week of the NBA season against Memphis, while the Grizzlies have lost nine of their last 10 before heading to San Francisco. There was a sense that the Warriors could be on their way to consecutive wins for the first time all season.
Instead, the Warriors took a step back. The Grizzlies punched the Warriors in the face, controlling Chase Center from the minute the game started. The Warriors played sloppy, turning the ball over 16 times with little urgency.
Although he might be almost immune to losing, after dropping 20 games in 25 attempts, Draymond Green said the loss to Memphis was a disappointing one.
“It’s hard for us to have a disappointing loss at this point, but this was definitely one of them,” Green told reporters in San Francisco after losing to the Grizzlies. “We played pretty horrible the entire game and yet was in the game pretty much the entire game. It was definitely disappointing.”
Over the last five games, the Warriors played teams with a .344 winning percentage, and only won one game in that span. For the first time in a while, the Warriors are looking like the team their 5-20 record reflects.
“Charlotte and Atlanta, we kind of let go of the rope, then to bounce back in Chicago—pull out a win there at the end of the road trip you expect to come home and try and build on that,” said Green. “We didn’t do that tonight.”
live[9:16] Draymond postgame: let go of the rope in ATL/CHA, thought play better after Chicagohttps://t.co/XDgZ71F4jf
— Let’s Go Warriors 👌💛💙 (@LetsGoWarriors) December 10, 2019
Steve Kerr echoed Green’s thoughts, calling the loss to Memphis, “discouraging” and “disappointing.”
[HD] Entire STEVE KERR postgame: “very very disappointing game”; “carelessness” + MOREhttps://t.co/fLQbSLNBQM
— Let’s Go Warriors 👌💛💙 (@LetsGoWarriors) December 10, 2019
The Warriors will have another chance at riding the ship, as the New York Knicks travel to town, freshly off the firing of their head coach, David Fizdale.
The Warriors and Knicks have combined for only nine wins and 39 losses to start the 2019 season. Still, on Wednesday night in Chase Center, one team will be forced to add another notch to their win column.