Warriors slide goes from bad to worse

The 124-116 loss was the Warriors‘ fourth straight loss and eighth in ten games. In doing so, Golden State has now fallen to third in the Western Conference following Memphis’ win over Orlando.

After falling behind in the opening quarter, the Warriors maintained control for the majority of the game.

The Golden State Warriors’ recent struggles have hit a new low, falling to the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on Saturday night.

They held double-digit leads in both the second and third quarters, with a balanced team approach seeming too powerful for LeBron James’ virtuoso performance, putting on a show with Matthew Stafford in attendance.

But in a common theme across Golden State’s recent stretch, the defense fell to pieces against a superstar of the league. Usually, a player decreases in value the more games they miss through injury, yet Draymond Green’s absence continues to apply the opposite.

Luka Doncic, Karl-Anthony Towns, and now James, are the three stars whom the Warriors have had no answer for across the last week. To put that down to their greatness, and to Green’s absence, is to also provide an unwarranted excuse for Steve Kerr and the players at his disposal.

Many would look at Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson’s offensive production as a reason behind the loss; the two combined for a total of 21 points on 27 shots. But it’s actually their defensive impact, or lack thereof, that you could attribute to the Warriors’ inexcusable loss.

James will go down as a top-three player of all time, with the four-time champion also likely to pass Kareem Abdul Jabbar for most points in NBA history. But at 37 years of age, against a team that would regard themselves as the best in the league, he simply shouldn’t be going for 56 points.

His kick-out to the corner for a Carmelo Anthony triple may have sunk the Warriors, but it was a play seen scarcely throughout the game. That was just James’ third assist, with Golden State unable to force the Lakers’ role players to make shots to beat them.

James took 31 shots while in comparison, on the other end, Stephen Curry took 22. The two-time MVP played incredibly well with 30 points, but like so many other teams this season, the Lakers double-teamed and trapped him just enough to prevent a scoring explosion.

The Warriors’ woes are now greater than Green’s absence, or whatever a second-year, 7ft center in James Wiseman may provide. It’s unlikely to ease anytime soon either, with Steve Kerr ruling out Curry, Thompson, and Wiggins from their trip to Denver on Monday.