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Not even Stephen Curry‘s return from a two-game absence could stop the Golden State Warriors‘ alarming slide.
Curry broke down what went wrong for the Warriors as they lost for the sixth straight time, a 130-123 overtime heartbreaker to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night.
“During this losing streak, we’ve got a little rattled,” Curry said, “So, we gotta figure that piece out. Missing Draymond is tough. I was out for two games. Seems like a perfect storm of everything. So, we have to maintain confidence in ourselves and our ability to figure things out. But, it’s gonna take everybody.”
Curry’s 25-point game in his return from a knee injury was not enough against the young but fast-rising Thunder.
“A losing streak like this, there’s urgency, for sure. Anytime you’re at this many in a row, it’s a problem that you’ve got to fix. And, you don’t want to develop a losing mentality at all at any stretch of the season. That’s a stink in the locker room that you don’t wanna have in there.”
The dynasty that ruled the NBA for the most part of the last nine years is aging. After they shot the lights out to build an 18-point lead in the second half, the young and more athletic Thunder put the clamps on them.
This could be the Thunder’s second coming since the Kevin Durant-Russell Westbrook era. Now, they have 7-foot-2 Chet Holmgren and MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in place of those two future Hall of Famers who left them.
Curry is still playing MVP-level at 35. But his sidekick, Klay Thompson, the other half of the Splash Brothers, is declining at a rapid rate. Draymond Green is getting more out of control.
The NBA has caught up with their aging dynasty core. The losing streak has completely eroded whatever good vibes the Warriors have built in their 6-2 start.
Curry wants to avoid that stench that is starting to stink in their locker room. But can they?
Draymond Green Apologizes
A contrite Draymond Green apologized to the Warriors team in an emotional scene in their locker room in the aftermath of his five-game suspension.
“Sources in the locker room said Green apologized and displayed contrition. He told the team his intentions were pure — protecting his teammate — but he took it too far,” Marcus Thompson of The Athletic wrote on November 17.
Green’s transgression — a chokehold of Rudy Gobert — is hurting the Warriors big time. Their free fall has reached six losses Saturday night against the Thunder. Their five-game losing streak at home is a first in Steve Kerr’s era.
Green has three more games to sit out and reflect on this latest emotional outburst. Can he and the Warriors rebound from this?
Warriors Urged to Bench Klay Thompson
Former Warriors rival-turned-NBA TV analyst Channing Frye pushed for Thompson’s removal from the starting lineup amid his shooting struggles.
“I don’t expect Klay to be 2015 Klay,” Frye said on NBA TV Gametime. “I just don’t. It’s just he’s been through a lot of injuries. But this [year’s] Klay is a guy that has to come off the bench so he’s gonna have to get it together for them to win games and that’s just the truth.”
Frye’s suggestion isn’t to permanently bench the struggling wing. But only to get him more shots against weaker competition to regain his confidence.
“Are you trying to win games? Are you worried about somebody’s feelings? Maybe taking the pressure off him for a couple of games will help him get back into rhythm, where they could just focus on getting him more than seven shots and again, you’re Klay Thompson,” Frye explained.
Thompson finished with 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting against the Thunder. But he missed his last six shots, three each in the fourth quarter and overtime.
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