Turnovers, fatigue cost Warriors their first loss of season

Well, 82-0 was never really going to happen.

On a night where Klay Thompson (hand) missed his first career game due to injury and David Lee (hamstring) was just a spectator again, it’s no surprise that the Warriors struggled to score for significant stretches against the Suns on Sunday. Coming off a tough road win in Houston the night before, Golden State looked surprisingly energetic in the opening quarter, scoring 30 points. At the half, the Warriors led 58-47 behind Stephen Curry’s 22 and 7. Twitter was already anointing Curry the MVP at halftime of the sixth game of the season because that’s how good he looked despite the five first half turnovers.

The second half, however, wasn’t so nice to the Dubs. The turning point in the game happened right at the end of the third quarter. Curry, who had been resting on the bench, was brought in for one last offensive set while notorious Warrior-killer Isaiah Thomas knocked down two free throws with 15 seconds left in the period. With time winding down, Curry went one-on-one with Thomas who drew a charge with two seconds left. On the inbound pass, Curry went for the steal, fouled Thomas instead, and sent him back to the line. In a matter of seconds, the Warriors went from being in control of the game to having their star guard pick up his third and fourth fouls and losing the quarter.

Momentum is a hell of a thing in basketball. Thomas and Gerald Green caught fire and combined for 31 of Phoenix’s 36 fourth quarter points. To put this collapse in perspective, the Warriors scored 37 points the whole half. With Bogut and Curry on the bench and Thompson and Lee out, the Warriors never really had a chance in the fourth quarter.

Let’s start with the negatives:

Curry eloquently highlighted the most glaring negative with his Instagram post this morning. Curry had 10 of the Warriors’ 26 turnovers. The Suns shot 33 free throws to Golden State’s 21. Four of the Warriors five starters had at least four fouls while Ezeli also had four off the bench.

When Curry wasn’t in the game, the offense was stagnant. The Warriors played their worst quarter of the season where nothing would go right for them. As hard as it is to believe, the Suns went on their run without Dragic and Bledsoe, arguably their two best players.

The biggest concern, in my mind, is Andre Iguodala‘s performance. He was 0-of-4 from the field with three rebounds and just one assist. Although he’s had good stretches, Iguodala doesn’t look entirely comfortable in his new role off the bench. He’s been hesitant to shoot and he looks like he might be trying to do too much at times. This is definitely something to keep an eye on. Shaun Livinsgton also looked to be afraid of taking jumpers. Without Thompson in the lineup alongside Iguodala and Livingston to space the floor, defenses can look to just pack the paint. Ultimately, there were too many turnovers, too many fouls, and way too much Thomas and Green.

Now for the positives:

Part of what makes this loss sting is that the Warriors were in the lead for over 35 minutes of the game, extending the lead to double digits at points throughout the game. On the back end of a back-to-back, the Warriors could have easily conceded from early on, but instead the short-handed team battled until it ran out of gas. It was evident that the team was tired as they didn’t look to run on the break and, particularly in the fourth, were extremely slow on defensive rotations. After the tough win against Houston, it’s understandable that the team was fatigued. In addition to that, everyone had to play a little more than Kerr wanted because of Thompson’s and Lee’s injuries. Despite this, Kerr tries to rotate his players a lot in an effort to keep them fresh which I think is very important. In addition to his dazzling offense, Curry’s defense looks to be much-improved as he held the explosive Eric Bledsoe to 0-of-4 shooting in the first half and came out with five steals. Many thought his defensive issues were insurmountable, yet it seems he’s really dedicated himself to improving. This leads me to believe that Curry’s turnovers will become less of a problem over the season as he gets more comfortable in the new offense.

The Warriors had this game, but the fresher team won. It’s important to note that Phoenix is a really good squad. The turnovers are an issue, but I can’t help but think that fatigue played a part in last night’s game.  The Warriors’ new offensive system makes the team prone to turnovers which is acceptable; however, it’s the careless, unforced ones that hurt. Sometimes, this team goes for the home run play instead of making a simple pass. The Warriors finally ran into a team that made them pay for their turnovers. With a new coaching staff and system, the Warriors are a work in progress and last night showed that.

Golden State is not completely healthy yet. As Thompson, Lee, Livingston, and Brandon Rush get completely healthy, expect this team to have some growing pains, but also expect to see some really beautiful basketball.

Going undefeated is overrated anyways — 81-1 seems a lot more fun, right?