Golden State Warriors might’ve just had their worst game of the season

It feels like I could have written this one a few different times this season. While yes, some of the Golden State Warriors‘ losses earlier in the season were just as embarrassing – especially when Stephen Curry was on the floor. But this one just feels… worse.

As Steve Kerr said previously, the Dubs aren’t playing with any heart. Do you know how difficult it is to be in a 50-point hole in the third quarter? You have to do just about everything wrong and then play with no heart to allow yourself to get beat this bad by a team not even in the playoff picture.

The Golden State Warriors lost by 53 points on Friday night, making this not only their worst loss of the season but perhaps ever.

Let’s just rattle off a few reasons why this loss was so bad.

• The Warriors finished with 77 points (their previous low this season was 91)
• This was their lowest-scoring game since 2018 against the San Antonio Spurs, when Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson were all sidelined
• They lost by 53 points, the third-most in franchise history and most since 1973 (NBA record is 68 points)
• Pascal Siakam scored 36 points, nearly half the Dubs total and more than any single quarter from Golden State
• Andrew Wiggins led the Warriors with 15 points and was a minus 37 in just 26 minutes of playing time
• Toronto is now just 2-13 in their last 15 games
• The Warriors shot 26-of-79 (32.9) percent, their second-worst shooting game since 2014

Anyways, let’s be fair. Playing without Curry and Draymond Green is an obvious handicap. Nonetheless, the Raptors were without Kyle Lowry along with Paul Watson, Patrick McCaw and Jalen Harris. Not exactly an equal trade-off but worth noting.

The main reason this loss is so crushing is that it feels like this was a great opportunity for the Warriors’ youth to earn their stripes a bit.

James Wiseman was bad in this game, only recording 9 points and 5 rebounds in over 30 minutes of play. The same goes for Jordan Poole, Nico Mannion and Kelly Oure who combined for a whopping 9-of-33 shooting total and

Competing against a bottom-dweller team would have been a small moral victory for the development of this unit.

Instead, they got smacked in the mouth. This isn’t a reason to panic but it’s a squandered chance for growth. Let’s hope they respond on Sunday against Atlanta.