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The Golden State Warriors entered their Friday night bout with the New York Knicks in a position that has become all too familiar this season (and in the worst possible way).
Specifically: licking their wounds, treading water, desperate for a win after yet another shellacking. However you want to frame it, it’s not a good place to be for a team with four titles in the last eight years and designs on successfully defending its most recent championship.
Against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night, the Dubs’ once-vaunted defensive front crumbled to the point of allowing 72 first-half points to Devin Booker and Co. And even with Stephen Curry exploding once again — this time to the tune of 50 points — they weren’t able to overcome their egregious D on the other end.
In the wake of the loss, there was a lot of the same talk we’ve heard for the last month about it still being early in the year and about there being plenty of time to turn things around. For his part, though, Curry is singing a different tune.
He believes the time to flip the script is now, lest the club reach a point of no return.
Steph Speaks Out on Breaking Bad Habits
Speaking to the media after the 130-119 loss in the Valley of the Sun, Curry issued a word of caution to the rest of the Warriors about where things could be headed if the club continues down its current path.
“Losing becomes a habit if you don’t fix it,” he said, via NBC Sports Bay Area.
Curry acknowledged the fact that Golden State has managed to avoid such cultural pitfalls for a decade-plus. But he obviously doesn’t believe that the team is actually immune to it happening.
And why should he when Draymond Green is punching Jordan Poole in camp, the youngsters are failing in their efforts to move into featured roles, Klay Thompson is working his way back into shape once again and the losses are piling up?
“We’ve avoided that for a very long time, in terms of that creeping into the locker room — that loser mentality. I think we’re very aware of who we are, what our potential is. The fact is that you can’t stay in this vibe or mode for too long and not really prove that you can be that type of [championship] team.”
JaMychal Green Fined For Outburst
When the Warriors made the move to bring veteran forward JaMychal Green into the fold over the summer, it was thought that he could help fill the shoes that were vacated by Otto Porter Jr. So far, though, the baller hasn’t even been able to secure a regular spot in the rotation, let alone contribute at a high level.
Against the Suns, Green scored just two points on 1-of-7 from the field over 17 minutes of play, while logging two boards and four fouls.
So, it should come as no surprise that he was in a surly mood as the Suns game came to a close. The fouls were clearly a major point of contention, too, as he targeted the officials specifically, and they apparently didn’t like the cut of his jib.
As reported by ESPN‘s Kendra Andrews, Green was fined $20,000 by the league for “directing profane and derogatory language” toward one of the officials as the game concluded.
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Warriors’ Stephen Curry Puts Struggling Team on Notice