The Golden State Warriors lost another winnable game on Saturday to cap off the NBA’s rivalry week. The hosts lost 118-108 to the visiting Los Angeles Lakers, their second close defeat to their pacific rival in the space of a month.
After the game Stephen Curry took the podium to answer the usual post-game questions. During the press conference a reporter told Curry that the Warriors are 1-20 this season when trailing after three quarters.
This statistic shows exactly why the Warriors may miss the playoffs
Curry expressed shock, and tried to explain why the Warriors haven’t been able to overcome any deficits. He said that there are probably “a lot of reasons” for this horrible statistic, including not being able to score late in games.
REPORTER: "On the year you guys are 1-20 when trailing after three quarters..."
— KNBR (@KNBR) January 26, 2025
STEPH CURRY: "What?!" pic.twitter.com/V7KRsEW4nF
What is craziest about this statistic is that the Warriors offense isn’t terrible. They are 19th in the league in offensive rating, and 10th in the league in defensive rating. Sure, 19th isn’t great, but it hardly explains the Warriors' inability to finish games strong.
Is it the fact that they are led by an aging superstar on offense who has little help? Perhaps. It seemed like the Warriors of old were able to overcome any deficit, but this team doesn’t resemble the Warriors from their glory years.
It isn’t the offensive side of the ball that is hurting the Warriors late in games. The Warriors offense gets even better in the fourth quarter where they rank 10th in offensive rating and score the 10th most points. Their defense however falls off a cliff.
Golden State's top 10 defensive rating becomes 25th in the league in the fourth quarter. It is hard to pinpoint the exact reason for this. Are the Warriors out of shape and unable to keep up their defensive intensity late into games? Is coaching to blame? Regardless of why, coming back from a deficit after three quarters becomes almost impossible if you aren’t able to stop your opponent from scoring.
The Warriors need to look within to find the reason for this drop-off. They aren’t good enough to blow teams out in the first three quarters like the teams of 2015-2019. They are going to have to learn how to come back from behind late in games, or they will never be able to contend, let alone even make the playoffs. The Warriors roster and coaching staff need to internalize this shocking statistic and figure out how to improve their fourth-quarter defense before it becomes too late.