Golden State Warriors: The Dubs have lost their fear-creating sting

For the last three seasons, when the Golden State Warriors played your favorite team, you were scared. This season, not so much.

With Stephen Curry‘s return, the Golden State Warriors and their devoted fanbase hoped to see an absolutely dominant performance against the Detroit Pistons. Well, four quarters later, the Warriors took their second straight loss, losing by nine points.

Still down Draymond Green, the Warriors haven’t been at full strength in weeks. However, their depth and star power is supposed to cover up for the array of injuries they were bound to have.

With both Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston underperforming, the Dubs have needed players to step up, and the sad reality is that many of the Warriors non-star players haven’t played well.

Without that bench presence and with a recently-returned Stephen Curry, the Dubs have struggled to take down very beatable opponents. Teams like San Antonio and a short-handed Rockets downed the Warriors earlier this season.

After last night’s loss, the Warriors have dipped to No. 4 in the West, and if the Grizzlies take down the Sixers tonight, the Dubs will drop to No. 5, a position they haven’t been in for quite some time. Losing four straight for the first time five years earlier this season, Golden State’s struggled this season.

Why have their struggles manifested themselves this season?

In part, it’s due to the absence of Stephen Curry. He’s been out over ten games already this season. Because of that ten-game absence, the Warriors have fallen to No. 5 in points per game and, for the first time in a long time, are not No. 1 in overall field goal percentage.

The Warriors, who used to be the league’s best three-point shooting team, aren’t even top ten in points per game. They’ve lost that dynamic sting, and it’s obvious in the patterns their offense has created.

The Dubs have had two 20-point losses in their first 24 games this season. Last season, they have two 20-point losses in their first 70 games before dropping two of their four games by 20 or more.

When Draymond Green returns, will their sting and stronghold on the NBA come back? It should, but as we’ve seen, teams have started to stare Golden State in the face and take them down.