Was Knicks loss the last straw for Golden State Warriors’ second timeline?

Even the staunchest believers of the Golden State Warriors’ young core would have had trouble finding optimism from Tuesday’s blowout loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

With the Warriors missing four of their top nine in the rotation, Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Donte DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green, Golden State’s much talked about youngsters got increased opportunity against the most in-form team in the NBA.

Was Tuesday night’s 38-point loss to the New York Knicks the final straw in the Golden State Warriors’ audacious two-timeline plan?

James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody were each a part of the rotation, and with nearly eight minutes left in the game, the trio were joined by rookies Ryan Rollins and Patrick Baldwin Jr. to form the most inexperienced unit Steve Kerr can put on the floor.

It’s difficult to take too much from garbage time minutes, but the reality is that there isn’t such a thing for players whose opportunities are as rare as hens teeth. They proceeded to get outscored 19-6 by the Knicks garbage-time unit — one that’s less talented at least based on draft positioning.

Kuminga was fine — not his most impactful game obviously but he was second on the team in scoring with 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting to go with four rebounds and four assists. In the space of a month he’s distanced himself from the other quartet, to the point where his name shouldn’t actually be in this discussion.

Little can be expected of Baldwin and Rollins, yet it does again raise the question of why Golden State, a team coming off the championship and still in contention, signed two rookies to fully guaranteed contracts on the main roster.

Their opponents in last year’s NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics, traded their first-round pick in a shrewd move for sixth man Malcolm Brogdon, and gave a two-way contract to their second-round pick JD Davidson. There’s clearly financial elements to this, but for a team who’s also leaving it’s 15th roster spot open, it’s hard to get your head around what the Warriors did.

Moody started for the second time this season and hit three of his six attempts from beyond the arc. The issue is you can’t be a valuable 3-and-D rotation player without the second element, of which it’s becoming increasingly clear that Kerr’s been right in taking issue with the 20-year-old’s defense.

There are plays where Moody looks like he can become a high-level perimeter defender, but on too many occasions he’s beaten off-the-dribble and is unable to stay in front of his man. There’s still enough there to think he’ll become a productive NBA player, however it’s coming along slower than most would have expected after he played meaningful, albeit limited minutes in last season’s Western Conference Finals.

Then there’s Wiseman. Tuesday offered him his first significant opportunity since his highly-publicised stint in the G League. There were two nicely-timed emphatic blocks but otherwise, his 22 minutes were plagued with comical errors and mistakes, and he was outplayed by the likes of Isaiah Hartenstein and Jericho Sims.

Many, including myself, had hopes for Wiseman and wanted to see him succeed after an incredibly strong five-game stretch to conclude his G League action. It’s one game sure, but there appeared little difference between the player we saw at the beginning of the season, and the one that took the floor on Tuesday.

Is it the last straw? Not quite. The youngsters should get an opportunity to immediately bounceback when the undermanned Warriors take on the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center later today.