Golden State Warriors fighting to stay afloat amid Draymond Green's indefinite suspension

The Golden State Warriors fought off comebacks from the Brooklyn Nets and Portland Trail Blazers over the weekend in games that felt unnecessarily like must-wins for the franchise.

Now sitting with a 12-14 record, Golden State is firmly positioned in the bottom half of the conference and is one of only five teams with a losing record out West.

With Draymond Green's recent suspension only adding to the Warriors' laundry list of issues, Golden State will have to fight to stay afloat in the dreaded Western Conference.

As younger, talented teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder cement themselves as formidable forces at the top of the West, the Warriors have continued on their downward trajectory with only themselves to blame.

Discipline, or lack thereof, has been the Warriors' achilles heal over the past two seasons — in every sense of the word. From Draymond Green's inability to control his actions on the court to the team's incessant turnover issues that have repeatedly cost them late in games, it's hard to shake the feeling that Golden State have been their own worst enemy.

Forget the fact that Andrew Wiggins is having the worst offensive season of his career. Why is it that the Canadian's offensive shortcomings have impacted his productivity on the other end of the court, to the point that the 28-year-old wing — who was an All-Star starter just two seasons ago — has virtually been unplayable down the stretch of close games?

Why do the Golden State Warriors as a unit rank bottom five in turnover rate for the fourth consecutive season, despite the addition of one of the best organizers and floor generals of all time in Chris Paul?

Like last year, most, if not all of the Warriors' core issues stem from an institutional lack of discipline, and if they are to make any sort of noise this season, Golden State may have some tough decisions to make in the coming weeks.

While the length of Green's suspension remains a mystery, one thing is for certain -- time is running out for the Warriors as we know them. Golden State has given up a lot of ground through 26 games and they can ill-afford to let any more easy opportunities slip away from them.

The Warriors have dropped a few too many close games this season in which Steve Kerr has admittedly made some poor judgment calls. Kerr spoke recently about the trust he holds in his starting unit, a lineup that's been one of the worst in the league this season.

"“I’ve been very committed to getting this first group going because I just watched that group win a championship two years ago, year-and-a-half actually,” Kerr said recently. “That’s significant to me, and I still think all those guys have a lot to offer. They’re kind of an ensemble cast; each one is very much dependent on the other.”"

Kerr had been hesitant to drastically change his rotations, with many fans wondering if he'd given his core guys a bit too much leeway. Wiggins and Klay Thompson have quite frankly shot the Warriors out of a few very winnable games, leading to the former being removed from the starting lineup ahead of last week's game against the LA Clippers. Meanwhile, Warrior youngsters like Brandin Podziemski, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and Trayce Jackson-Davis have provided the spark that they've so desperately needed over the past couple of weeks.

The weekend was a positive start to a potential Warrior resurgence, though they were hardly convincing against two teams that are likely to be lottery bound. But even still, the clock is ticking for the Golden State Warriors, and they will have to do everything in their power to right the ship before it's too late.