Golden State Warriors Lack of Energy Leads to Their Downfall

The Warriors were without much jump in their loss to the Nuggets.

On Wednesday night, the Golden State Warriors went through the motions against an inferior opponent through three quarters. When they decided to turn it on in the fourth, it was too late, even with a scorching hot Stephen Curry. Curry scored 20 of his game-high 38 points in the quarter but also committed a crucial turnover late that led to the Warriors’ undoing.   

Through the first three quarters, the Warriors were not playing with the same effort, energy or passion that they have played with all season. The simple reason why was they were without their heartbeat and passionate leader, Draymond Green. Green did not play due to rest but the Warriors definitely could have used his energy in the 112-110 loss.

Instead of Green at the power forward, the Warriors went third-string power forward, Jason Thompson, trying to maintain their same rotation. Thompson played decent for a guy who does not get many minutes but was nowhere near the talent or energy that Green provides. As a result, the Warriors were dominated on the boards and gave up open jumpers and lanes on defense. This led to many fouls on drives with the main recipient being Danilo Gallinari.

Gallinari paced the Nuggets with 28 points with most of his points coming from the charity stripe. Gallinari took almost as many free throws as the Warriors entire team, going 17 of 19. Gallinari’s night may not have been so spectacular if Green was available. Green is an unbelievable on-the-ball defender and would have slowed down Gallinari’s attack.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Warriors managed to score 110 points but without Green, Curry had the ball in his hands much more than usual. The result was season-tying 8 turnovers, much them coming on double-teams by the Nuggets, It was nothing Curry had not seen before but without Green, Curry did not have that escape valve and playmaker.

With Green on the floor, the Warriors are able to play 4-on-3 against their opponent, creating open looks for their perimeter players. It gives players like Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala open jumpers but on Wednesday night, the Warriors shot more contested jumpers than they would have liked and their shooting percentage suffered through three quarters.

It has been reported that Green will miss Thursday night’s game as well against the Los Angeles Lakers, which means the Warriors will have to play with more energy than they showed on Wednesday night. It should be a little easier since they will be playing at home against a weak opponent in front of the Oracle crowd but on Wednesday night, the absence of Green was clearly felt. The Warriors may think twice about resting Green again if he is completely healthy because of the energy, passion and leadership he provides this team.

It was explained best by Nuggets coach, Michael Malone who said, “Curry may be the MVP of the league but Draymond Green is the Warriors’ MVP.” This statement shows how valuable Green is to the Warriors’ success and how he may be the most indispensable piece on this team.