Loss to Cavaliers Shows Warriors Aren’t Quite Ready for the Big Time

The Warriors have had a season of ups and downs (mostly downs), but after taking down the Suns over the weekend they had a second chance to truly prove themselves on Monday night when hosting the NBA-best Cleveland Cavaliers. To say they didn’t is an understatement.

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Though the team had plenty to celebrate after beating Phoenix, those positive vibes quickly came to an end in a 113-95 loss that was never particularly close. Golden State hung around for a little while, but the Cavaliers eventually pulled away and never looked back.

They held the Warriors to just 11 points in the second quarter, and outscored them by ten in the third. Six players for Golden State reached double figures, including Moses Moody (19) and Jonathan Kuminga (18), but it was all in vain.

Cleveland’s backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland also outscored Stephen Curry and Dennis Schroder 48-23. That was a problem the young Warriors team couldn’t overcome.

Same Old Issues

The loss hurts for several reasons. The biggest is the Warriors believed they might finally be back on track after taking down Phoenix. Unfortunately, that’s not the case just yet. All of their old mistakes were on full display, including forced shots, bad possessions, and weak defense.

Even the ever-present Curry couldn’t get anything going. He ended the night with just eleven points, two rebounds, and three assists. When he goes cold, it seems the rest of the team follows.

Buddy Hield also did next to nothing throughout the game. He missed several open three point shots, couldn’t finish layups, and ended the night on 1-of-8 shooting. He missed all of his three point attempts, which is something the Warriors cannot handle right now.

He also went 0-of-7 against the Suns, and has cooled off considerably after a hot start to begin the season. Ever since dropping 27 points against the Timberwolves on December 8th, he’s shooting 34.6 percent from the field and just 27.3 percent from three.

Such statlines are going to have to be better if the Warriors want to hang onto their playoff spot.

A Front-Loaded Team

Hield’s struggles are not the sole reason the Warriors are slumping, but it is indicative of a much bigger problem. The Warriors need help. A few of their big players are putting up stats, but the bench and role players aren’t stepping up like they were during the 10-2 stretch.

While many believed the Warriors were set to bring in a big name during the trade period, no such deal has materialized just yet. There’s still time, but going out and grabbing someone is becoming more and more pertinent as Golden State slides down the standings.

The acquisition of Dennis Schroder was supposed to relieve such issues, giving Curry another veteran presence to work with in the back court, but he's seemingly lost his touch since being traded over from Brookly a few weeks ago.

Where he averaged 18.4 points, 3 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game on 45.2 percent shooting with the Nets, he’s averaging just 9.1 points, 2 rebounds, and 3.9 assists on 29.7 percent shooting with the Warriors. His three point shot is down almost ten percent as well.

That’s incredibly concerning for Golden State because, if Schroder can’t acclimate to the new offense, they’re going to have to spend more draft capital to get somebody else who can take the pressure off Curry. They could wait a little longer, but they only have so much time.

Not Getting it Done

Losing the Cavaliers is expected for just about any team in the league, but keeping the game more competitive would have been a big mental boost for Golden State. The Warriors have had a sea of struggles lately, and getting blown out at home is not helping matters at all.

Their roster has some good players on it, and their second unit has potential. Even so, they are making too many small mistakes. They forced 11 turnovers against Cleveland, but failed to score on a single one.

Curry and Draymond Green are both getting older, but they are still the team’s heartbeat. The Warriors have the fourth-best offensive output in the league (118 points per 100 possessions) with Curry on the court, and the worst (99.5 points per 100 possessions) without him. That needs to change, and it needs to change soon.

There’s no telling who’s going to step up for the team, but right now they don’t have the players or personnel to win a tough seven game series. They might get a win here or there, but the Cavaliers game shows they still don’t know how to get out of their own way.

“Like the kids say, we’re very mid right now,” Curry said in the postgame interview. “Just very average.”