Warriors’ Offense Nowhere To Be Found in Bad Home Loss to Wizards

There seemed to be a lid on the basket all night as the Golden State Warriors fell 88-85 to the Washington Wizards at Oracle Arena in what has to be one of the worst losses of the season. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Golden State Warriors played terrific defense on Sunday night, allowing just 88 points in a win over the Blazers. Their defense was stellar again on Tuesday night against the Washington Wizards, as they gave up 88 points yet again.

Unfortunately, their offense was nowhere to be found.

There seemed to be a lid on the basket all night as the Warriors fell 88-85 to the Wizards at Oracle Arena in what has to be one of the worst losses of the season.

The Warriors’ offense was anemic, shooting just 37.5 percent from the field and 30.4 percent on threes, way below their season averages. Only three players scored in double digits, with Stephen Curry’s 23 points leading the way, but he was just 8-of-23 shooting. Klay Thompson wasn’t much better at 5-of-17, and David Lee had an off-night with just 11 points on 2-of-10 shooting.

The game consisted of several lengthy periods of time where neither team seemed capable of putting the ball in the basket. That was the case late in the game, as the Warriors attempted to mount a late rally. After a Lee layup tied the game at 85-85 with 1:52 remaining, John Wall drilled a three on the ensuing possession to give the Wizards the lead. The Warriors then missed three consecutive three-pointers on their final three possessions, with the game ending on a wild fling by Curry at the buzzer that missed badly. That was prior to another miss by Curry, which preceded an Andre Iguodala airball.

If that description was ugly, then the rest of the game was even more brutal. The Warriors actually held a double-digit lead with under two minutes to play in the second half at 49-39, but then the Wizards went on a 20-2 run that carried over from the second to third quarter. It was the Bradley Beal show in the third, as the second-year guard scored 11 points during that stretch that put the Wizards up 59-51. Beal finished with a team-high 20 points.

Every time the Warriors made a run — if you can even call it that — to get back into the game, the Wizards responded with a push of their own. Washington turned a one-point advantage to begin the fourth into a 75-68 lead two minutes into the quarter.

In a game that was dominated by defense, it was the Warriors’ inability to run their offense and sustain any kind of consistency at all that cost them the game.

Tale of the Tape

Warriors

• Field-goal percentage: 37.5% (30-80)
• Three-point percentage: 30.4% (7-23)
• Rebounds: 47
• Assists: 19
• Turnovers: 19

Wizards

• Field-goal percentage: 37.8% (34-90)
• Three-point percentage: 45.5 (10-22)
• Rebounds: 44
• Assists: 20
• Turnovers: 18

Alarming Stats/Notes

The Warriors…

• Lost to the Wizards for the first time in six games.
• Have lost six of nine games overall.
• Have lost four of their last five home games, including bad losses to the Nuggets, Timberwolves, and now the Wizards.
• Are now a pedestrian 13-8 at home this season, which is worst among playoff teams.
• Dropped a spot in the standings, and now sit in seventh in the West behind Phoenix.
• Are now third in the division behind the Suns and Clippers.
• Are just 2.5 games in front of the ninth-seeded Nuggets.

Quotable

Mark Jackson:

"We are not good enough to allow who comes in here to determine how hard we play."

Tweet of the Night

What’s on Tap

The Warriors will wrap up their five-game homestand against the Clippers on Thursday night. Hopefully, playing a division rival will put a spark into this team.