The Golden State Warriors never stood a chance against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night, falling behind 18-0 and getting blown out in a horror start to their period without franchise superstar Stephen Curry.
The Warriors didn’t have a single starter score in double figures in a game that was effectively over in the first five minutes. The visitors wound up falling to a 123-85 defeat, pushing them to an 8-5 record after back-to-back losses to open a five-game road trip.
Warriors began Stephen Curry-less period in worst way possible
With Curry suffering a torn oblique injury on Wednesday against the Houston Rockets, Golden State are now playing with over $150 million on the sidelines with Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis and Moses Moody also unavailable.
So too is Brandon Williams whose absence was also felt as the Warriors simply lacked offense against the reigning Western Conference champions. Third-string point guard LJ Cryer was perhaps the lone positive after taking advantage of his opportunity without Curry and Williams.
Cryer was remarkably one of only two Golden State players to score in double figures, going for a career-high 20 points and six assists on 6-of-11 shooting from three-point range. Reserve center Charles Bassey added 11 points and five rebounds in 20 minutes.
The Warriors may need to continue leaning on Cryer over the remainder of the road trip, having otherwise 33.3% from the floor. Yaxel Lendeborg struggled significantly in his first game as a number one option, scoring just three points on 1-of-13 shooting while being a game-worst -40 in less than 24 minutes.
Warriors desperately need reinforcements after 38-point loss
This result shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise given the short-handed nature of the Golden State roster, but it did serve to reiterate just how much the team needs reinforcements in order to remain competitive and at least maintain at an above .500 record.
The problem is that those reinforcements don’t appear to be coming anytime soon. Curry is out for multiple weeks, Butler and Moody are still two months away at least, and the Porzingis situation remains up in the air as the Warriors continue to explore trades using the veteran center’s $20 million salary.
The Warriors will hope to get back on track in what will be a far easier matchup against the lowly New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday, with the franchise coming off five-straight losses by a combined 138 points, including a 51-point loss to Golden State on Monday.
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