Monday Musings: Golden State Warriors wrap up another packed, wild week

Things I Didn’t Like

Losing to the Clippers. This illustrates how much the Warriors revolve around Steph and Klay. Without them, Durant becomes the one and only focal point. Sure, he poured in 40 points and was incredibly efficient. But he was it. That’s how the Clippers were able to end their skid against the Warriors.

Nonetheless, there’s no excuse to lose to a Clippers team with half their starting lineup missing. We’ve said this time and again this season, when the Warriors think they’re just going to coast to victory against an inferior opponent, end up in a tight game — or, in the case, trailing big in the fourth — and have no idea how to respond.

Without Steph and Klay, the response was nonexistent.

Next: Dubs take on Cavs to end regular season series (PREVIEW)

Second half against the Raptors. Same situation here. The Warriors built up a 27-point lead over the Raptors with an incredible first half. No basketball team in the planet would have been able to compete with the Warriors playing at that level.

The only way the Warriors could let that lead slip was by beating themselves. And that, they did. They committed dumb fouls in the third quarter that let the Raptors back in the game, and never regained momentum.

This is the byproduct of being a juggernaut; you go up by a ton and think the game is done. Your mindset is that you’ve won. But then the other team makes a run, and you have to win the game a second time. They succeeded against the Raptors, but a couple of foul calls could have made the difference between a win and a loss.

It’s a problem that’s perhaps unique to only the Warriors, but it’s something they have to deal with — or these letdowns may prove costly in games that count come May.