Warriors inept offense struggles mightily against Mavericks
The Golden State Warriors scored 18 points in the 2nd quarter and then followed that up with 15 in the fourth of their Wednesday night loss in Dallas.
They totaled under 85 against the Mavericks, a first of the season. It was their first game under 90 in which both Draymond Green and Stephen Curry took the court, just their second of the season in general.
The Golden State Warriors struggled against the Luka Doncic-led Dallas Mavericks, losing by 17 and scoring a mere 82 points.
To make matters even worse, the Warriors entered the fourth quarter down just 3 yet ended up losing 99-82.
Oddly enough, much of the Warriors’ struggles can be put on Curry, who was just 5-for-24 from the field. This was the two-time MVP’s first two-game series of the season in which he shoot under 25% in both outings. It’s been a rough stretch for a normally efficient star.
There is good news on the horizon. For starters, the Warriors should be getting Andre Iguodala and Otto Porter Jr. back in the near future. Both players were sidelined against Dallas yet play significant roles in the team’s offense.
On top of that, five-time All-Star guard Klay Thompson is seemingly set to return Sunday. Porter Jr. is an elite three-point shooter, and it was clear that the lack of spacing hurt Curry’s play on Wednesday. It was far more than just the superstar that struggled though.
Jonathan Kuminga, the team’s first-round pick who is getting more minutes off the bench, missed all three of his attempts from the field. Jordan Poole missed all four of his attempts from three-point land as well.
The Warriors actually topped 40% as a team while the Mavs were slightly under 38%.
It was the fact that Golden State lived or died by the three, and on Wednesday, they died by it, shooting just 5-for-28 from deep and getting to the line just 16 times. Both of those figures represent both the positive and negatives of Golden State’s offense.
Clearly, it was just an off night, and their defense held Dallas to under 100 which is a positive. For a team that is now tied for the best record in the NBA, those off nights have been significantly rarer this season.
With that in mind, Golden State will look to get back to their fluid offensive play tonight as they head to New Orleans to battle the Pelicans.