Statistically, Golden State’s defense is still the best in the NBA since the start of the season, with only 104.4 points against on 100 possessions. But last night, against the Clippers, the Warriors were far from this rank and, as Steve Kerr reminds us, it’s been going on for several games now.
“The main thing is that our defense was bad. Our defense has been bad for five or six games now. It’s hard to win in the NBA when you display this level defensively, with so many problems. I know we are the best defence”he anticipated, by mimicking quotation marks. “But that’s not the case right now. These figures are iNFLated by what we were doing at the start of the season. Over the last seven games, we are probably among the five worst defenses, and maybe even the worst of all. “
Steve Kerr obviously hasn’t seen the Rockets play lately, and he extrapolates a bit, with Golden State actually being the 22nd defense in the last seven games. It is nevertheless very weak compared to the beginning of the season.
By representing the sliding average of Golden State’s defensive efficiency since the start of the season, we can clearly see the slippage of the last games.
“They attacked us directly”continued Steve Kerr, referring to the Clippers, who too easily broke the first defensive curtain. “Defending on the edge of the attack was the problem tonight, but it’s something different every game. I’ve said it before: when you can’t count on the defensive link, competitiveness and desire, every night there will be a different problem, depending on the qualities of the opponent. “
The absence of Draymond Green? Tiredness ? Not enough size?
But what is happening to the Warriors? No doubt the group is starting to feel tired as the All-Star Break approaches, especially since the team must compensate for the absence of its defensive leader, Draymond Green.
“Draymond is one of the best defenders in the league, so not having him on the pitch is a miss”can only confirm Kevon Looney. “Not tonight, but in other games we’ve shown streaks that we can be a really good defensive team without him. Tonight, from the start, they were too comfortable. “
During the first 30 games of the campaign, Golden State’s defense, led by an exceptional Draymond Green, was incredible. His physical problems logically caused concern, even if the Warriors had compensated rather well until this complicated period. But on the last games, the lack of size and intimidation under the circle causes too many worries, which creates cascading problems.
However, Steve Kerr does not want his players waiting for the return of their strong winger as the silver bullet.
“It’s up to us to play”repeats the coach. “We’re going to have to find the effort, the communication and the connection to get back to doing the things we were doing before. “
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Stephen Curry | 52 | 34.8 | 42.3 | 37.6 | 91.7 | 0.6 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 6.4 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 25.7 |
| Andrew Wiggins | 52 | 31.7 | 48.3 | 41.6 | 66.3 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 4.3 | 2.1 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 18.0 |
| Klay Thompson | 14 | 24.7 | 43.8 | 38.9 | 96.3 | 0.4 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 2.9 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 17.9 |
| Jordan Poole | 51 | 29.0 | 43.6 | 33.8 | 92.6 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.6 | 16.5 |
| Otto Porter | 46 | 21.6 | 47.1 | 39.4 | 72.7 | 1.0 | 4.2 | 5.2 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 8.4 |
| Draymond Green | 34 | 29.9 | 53.7 | 28.6 | 59.7 | 1.1 | 6.4 | 7.6 | 7.4 | 3.1 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 2.8 | 7.9 |
| Damion Lee | 46 | 20.3 | 45.5 | 37.6 | 85.1 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 7.9 |
| Jonathan Kuminga | 45 | 14.0 | 50.4 | 31.3 | 64.8 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 7.8 |
| Gary Payton II | 54 | 16.5 | 61.8 | 36.7 | 58.7 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 6.8 |
| Nemanja Bjelica | 51 | 15.4 | 44.8 | 33.6 | 68.2 | 0.9 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 6.2 |
| Kevon Looney | 57 | 21.3 | 54.5 | 0.0 | 65.6 | 2.7 | 4.9 | 7.6 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 6.2 |
| Juan Toscano Anderson | 55 | 14.6 | 49.0 | 30.1 | 59.6 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 4.6 |
| Andre Iguodala | 26 | 19.9 | 39.2 | 23.0 | 81.2 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 3.8 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 4.1 |
| Moses Moody | 33 | 9.4 | 38.1 | 30.5 | 82.4 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 3.2 |
| Quinndary Weatherspoon | 5 | 6.6 | 60.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 2.8 |
| Chris Chiozza | 26 | 10.7 | 29.2 | 37.2 | 100.0 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 2.1 |
| Jeff Dowtin | 4 | 6.9 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
