3 Issues the Golden State Warriors must address post All-Star break

The Golden State Warriors must fix their late-game woes.

For years everyone called the Warriors a jump-shooting team, and that’s consistently never been farther from the truth. They took plenty of threes, but they could also get and score at the rim consistently and efficiently while also utilizing the mid-range game. This is the first year where the ‘jump-shooting’ tag does actually have some truth behind it though. The Golden State offense is too dependant on the three-point shot, and although it’s a make-or-miss league, the reliance on simply being hot or not from three is too great.

Lately, more often than not, it’s actually led to some massive scoring outbursts. Yet predictably, again more often than not, it falls flat in the fourth quarter during close games. Whether players go cold, or the shots just get tougher, the Dubs’ offense struggles to find a reliable method of shotmaking in close games.

A lack of someone who can get to and consistently finish at the rim exacerbates these issues, and the loss of Steph is apparent in these moments. Recent losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers were due to how predictable the late-game offense became, running one DHO (dribble handoff) after another with Draymond Green hoping to get someone open as they struggled to hit their threes.

Ideally they can make a better effort to get Poole and Wiggins going downhill and create easier shots for the both of them, rather than simply forcing threes and praying they fall. There should be ample focus on creating easier shots, making it easier for the offense overall and relying less on high variance shots.