Golden State Warriors: 3 takeaways from loss to Houston Rockets

The Golden State Warriors lost another winnable game, this time to the Houston Rockets. Here’s three takeaways from the loss on Saturday.

The Golden State Warriors just didn’t look like the reigning NBA champions Saturday night at the Toyota Center, suffering a disappointing loss to Chris Paul and the Houston Rockets.

Kevin Durant paced the Warriors with 26 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks on 9-of-17 shooting from the field, 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc and 4-of-5 shooting from the free throw line.

Draymond Green recorded 21 points, seven rebounds, six assists. two steals and one block in 36 minutes, shooting 7-of-9 from the field, 2-of-3 from long range and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.

Stephen Curry tallied 19 points and eight assists, while Nick Young added 16 points in 18 minutes off the bench.

Despite the loss, the Dubs remain at the top of the standings with a regular season win/loss record of 37-10. They still have a 3.5-game lead over the Rockets, who have continued to put pressure on the first seed in the Western Conference.

This loss also puts an end to Golden State’s 4-game win streak as the Warriors return home from their 5-game road trip with a 4-1 record.

The Dubs will look to bounce back on Tuesday when they host the New York Knicks at Oracle Arena, but first, let’s go over what exactly went wrong on Saturday against the Rockets and what the Warriors need to do to fix it.

3. Warriors clearly weren’t locked in on defense

Before we get into how atrocious Golden State’s offense was on Saturday, let’s dive into what exactly went wrong defensively against the Rockets.

First off, the effort on the glass was absolutely abysmal, giving up 12 offensive rebounds to the Warriors’ four. This not only led to 16 second-chance points for the Rockets, but it also led to the Warriors being outrebounded 46-33.

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To break that down even further:

Ryan Anderson had four offensive rebounds and finished with 13 total; P.J. Tucker had three offensive rebounds and finished with seven total; Clint Capela had 2 offensive rebounds but only finished with five total; and multiple Rockets had at least one offensive rebound, including Chris Paul, who finished with 11 rebounds.

How does the shortest man on the court finish with 11 rebounds in 35 minutes of play, while Zaza Pachulia was only able to secure four in 16 minutes? There’s an obvious discrepancy there.

Secondly, the Warriors allowed the Rockets to shoot 47.1 percent from the field and 37.8 percent from behind the arc. Considering that the Rockets just recently made 17 three-pointers against the Minnesota Timberwolves, you would think that running guys off the arc would be Golden State’s top priority.

Instead, the Warriors allowed James Harden and CP3 to shoot a combined 11-of-20 from three-point range, which ended up being one too many. Paul is shooting a solid 39.1 percent from long this season, but how do you explain giving him 11 three-point attempts?

2. Curry and Thompson didn’t show up

Now getting into the offense, I first want to credit the Rockets for their defense down the stretch. Far too often do the Warriors rely on their talent to pull them out of late-game deficits, so it was refreshing to see them humbled.

I also want to credit the Rockets for the 23 points they scored off of 19 Warriors turnovers, which ultimately led to Golden State’s downfall. Even with GSW’s poor defense, it’s arguable the Warriors would have won that game had it not been for those turnovers.

As Steve Kerr explains in the clip below, the lack of rhythm really disrupted Klay Thompson‘s game, which led to him finishing with just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting. The Warriors rely heavily on Thompson’s scoring ability to steady the ship, but he just never really had the chance to find his shot.

Breaking down those 19 turnovers: Curry was at fault for six of those turnovers, while Draymond committed five and Durant threw away four. As bad as the Warriors were as a unit, much of the fault falls on Curry’s shoulders for his decision-making down the stretch.

The 2018 All-Star Game captain was all over the place on Saturday, and it was his run at the helm that kept the Warriors from developing enough momentum to strike a comeback. I fully expect Curry to revert back being the superstar floor general we know him to be on Tuesday against the Knicks.

1. Warriors need to start playing for real

In the 2014-15 season, you could just feel everything going right for the Warriors, and you just knew that they were going to win it all. It was their year, and it just seemed like nothing could stand in their way.

In the infamous 73-9 season, that same feeling just wasn’t there. The Warriors had the high ground in the Finals, but it felt as if it were they were just staving off the inevitable as the momentum visibly shifted.

In the 2016-17 season, the Warriors came in re-energized and looking to redeem themselves. They knew they were the best, and they wanted to prove it — KD especially. You just knew he was going to carry them to another ring, and his Finals MVP trophy proves that.

Now in the second half of the 2017-18 season, the Warriors have significantly bigger targets on their backs, and that feeling of them trying to mount their last stand is there once more. They just don’t seem as dominant, and it’s feeding many of these teams confidence.

While the rest of the league continues to play their best basketball against Golden State, the Warriors remain concerned with just trying to stay healthy, continuing to go through the motions of the regular season.

These are shark-infested waters, and the rest of the league smells blood. The Warriors need to get to smoothing over any rough edges they may have before the bad habits they formed over the course of the 82-game regular season come back to haunt them in the Finals.