Golden State Warriors: 3 takeaways from loss to Charlotte Hornets

The Golden State Warriors were incredibly disappointing Friday night at Oracle Arena, losing to the Charlotte Hornets 111-100. Here’s three takeaways from Friday’s loss going into Saturday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

After a solid win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday, the reigning champion Golden State Warriors just weren’t locked in Friday night, falling 111-100 to the Charlotte Hornets at Oracle Arena. The Warriors drop to a regular season win/loss record of 28-8, but they retain their spot at the top of the Western Conference.

Golden State’s complete and utter lack of energy against the Hornets becomes even more worrisome considering that the Warriors will now head into the tail end of a back-to-back series to host the Memphis Grizzlies in Oakland.

Kevin Durant led the scoring effort for the Dubs on Friday, finishing with 27 points, four rebounds and six assists in 34 minutes. Despite him failing to continue building his case for Defensive Player of the Year, the 7-foot forward still shot the ball pretty well, going 8-of-19 from the field, 4-of-5 from behind the arc and 7-of-7 from the free throw line.

Klay Thompson had 24 points, three rebounds and two assists on 10-of-20 shooting, while Shaun Livingston contributed 12 points, one rebound and two assists on 5-of-7 shooting. David West posted 10 points, six rebounds, one steal and one block off the bench, and Draymond Green added eight points, 11 rebounds, 16 assists and three blocks.

Now with the soft recap out of the way, let’s get into three things I took note of in this loss to the Hornets.