Golden State Warriors: What went wrong on opening night

Opening night couldn’t have been worse for the Golden State Warriors. Let’s collect ourselves and figure out what went wrong.

Well then. A nine-month layoff was met with a punch to the face for the Golden State Warriors as they found themselves begging for an end to their long-awaited return to action. The Brooklyn Nets smacked Golden State on opening night – and everyone has been quick to overreact.

A 125-99 beatdown is hard to overlook. However, let’s remind ourselves that this was only game one of a 72 game season. Furthermore, the Warriors haven’t played in nearly a year – whereas most members of the Nets were present in the Orlando Bubble.

Stephen Curry, in particular, hasn’t truly played consistently against other NBA competition since last year before his hand injury. Still, the two-time MVP was a semi-bright spot in this game with 20 points and 10 assists.

James Wiseman also had a decent debut, as well. The rookie posted 19 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals in 24 minutes of action. He looked reliable on the floor – other than when he was mismatched with Kevin Durant. But, we’ll give him a pass for that.

So, what went wrong? How did the Warriors end up on the wrong side of an opening night blowout? Let’s take a look.

Everything

The Warriors didn’t have much going for them in this game. From the opening tip, Brooklyn was red hot and rattling off bucket after bucket. While the team’s defense looked lost at times, we can also acknowledge the incredible shot-creating ability of Durant and Kyrie Irving – who torched the Warriors at every turn.

It was clear that the Dubs were rusty and the inexperience showed. No one looked in synch and the Nets capitalized on every error the Dubs made. In particular, the Warriors bench looked vastly overmatched by the Nets. In fairness, Brooklyn has about three bench members capable of being starters on other teams, so we won’t overreact to this just yet.

There was a moment in the first half where Eric Paschall dribbled in isolation for about 10 seconds, before dishing to Marquese Chriss for a 3-point attempt (Spoiler alert, he missed). I think that about sums up everything you need to know from this game.

No Draymond Green

We know the Warriors missed Draymond Green’s defense in game one. However, the most overlooked aspect of his game is his playmaking and coaching ability. The Warriors looked lost and Green would have resolved this.

Curry spoke after the game about how his teammates need to be more active in finding him off-ball. With so much pressure on Curry to create shots in Klay Thompson’s absence, there must be an emphasis on hitting him when he’s open. Many of the new members of the team routinely missed Curry when he broke free from Brooklyn’s defense. This is unacceptable and must be changed by game two.

If you look at footage from some previous Warriors’ seasons, you can see every Dubs’ player watching Curry’s motion off-ball. As soon as he broke free, a pass was delivered on time for a shot. This is something the newer players need to keep in mind.

Andrew Wiggins 

Missing a shot in a packed arena during the heat of a game is no big deal – but clanking an open jumper in an empty gym where the sound of your brick is free to echo across the floor is disheartening. For Andrew Wiggins, a 4-for-16 shooting performance in game one was full of deafening bricks.

The season opener couldn’t have been worse for Wiggins. His mistakes compounded as the match went on as Wiggins seemingly got stuck in his own head. This was a classic Wiggins’ game – but hopefully one of the last ones we see from him.

We spent all summer hyping up Wiggins’ opportunity for redemption this season. I’m not ready to throw that take in the trash after one garbage game from the young forward. Wiggins stumbled out the gate, but we have to assume he gets his feet under him soon.