The Golden State Warriors continue to waste the spectacular efforts of Stephen Curry, who has scored 87 points in two games since returning from a quad injury, but seen his team lose both to drop to 13-14 for the season.
“I’m not doing my job well this year,” coach Steve Kerr told reporters in Portland after Curry made 12 3-pointers and scored 48 points in a 136-131 loss to the Trail Blazers on Sunday.
Curry passed Michael Jordan for the most 40-point games in NBA history after turning 30 years old (45), but the Warriors gave up 40 fourth-quarter points to blow a 10-point lead in the final 10 minutes.
Kerr and the Warriors are attempting — and failing — to solve numerous problems.
Kerr identified rampant turnovers as the issue that he believes is holding them back most. The Warriors are turning the ball over an average of 16 times per game, sixth most in the NBA. They are 4-11 this season when they commit more turnovers than their opponent.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr has pinpointed turnovers, lineup struggles and injuries as the main reasons behind the team’s 13-14 start, despite scoring at an average of 118.4 points when Steph Curry is on the floor. Robert Edwards-Imagn Images
The Warriors had 18 turnovers on Sunday, including eight from Draymond Green. In three losses to a young and otherwise struggling Blazers team this season, the Warriors have turned it over 25, 14 and 18 times, sparking their transition game.
“Just making bad reads, bad decisions,” Green told reporters postgame. “Be more decisive. Take better care of it. Too f—ing old to be doing that.”
Those turnovers are partly to blame for what has been an inefficient offense — a 113.4 rating, ranked 20th out of 30 teams — despite employing one of the greatest offensive performers in league history.
In Curry’s 564 minutes this season, the Warriors score at a respectable 118.4 clip, which would rank sixth. But he has missed nine games and sits an average of 16.7 minutes even on nights he is active.
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In those 737 minutes on the bench this season, the Warriors have a 107.1 offensive rating, lower than the league’s worst offense (Indiana, 108.2). That’s a departure from late last season when the Warriors survived offensively without Curry because of Jimmy Butler‘s arrival in February.
“I thought we did a better job last year putting him in position to attack and create shots for people,” Kerr told reporters. “We need to get back to that type of control of the game where we are going to him in the half court.”
This has been a conversation behind the scenes for weeks. In November, Butler told ESPN about his preference for the Warriors to shift their offense when Curry sits from the random, flowing approach to a more deliberate, isolation attack.
“The second that Steph is in the game is completely different than when Steph is out and I’m in the game,” Butler said. “And if you’re still trying to run the Steph stuff, it’s not going to work. Nobody’s overreacting to anybody. I’m not saying ‘No, we should never do that.’ All I’m saying is Steph is the ultimate cheat code.”
Kerr mentioned a four-possession sequence in the loss to the Timberwolves where Butler didn’t touch the basketball despite Curry being on the bench.
“That’s on me,” Kerr said. “But that’s also on our players to understand. I can’t call a play every time. Nor do I want to. We have to find a way in collaboration to make sure we are playing through Jimmy.”
The persistent struggles have also led to Kerr’s constant search for a workable rotation, which has generated a difficult environment for players to generate a rhythm through consistency.
Kerr started his 15th different starting lineup in 27 games on Sunday night. Last season, he deployed 38 different starting lineups, the second most in the NBA and the most in Kerr’s 12-season tenure as head coach.
Kerr has pinned this ever-evolving approach to the lack of separation between all of the Warriors’ role players below Curry, Butler and Green, mentioning the strengths, flaws and tricky lineup combination choices.
His most recent maneuvering has led to the rotation disappearance of Jonathan Kuminga, the fifth-year wing making $22.5 million this season and viewed as their biggest trade chip at the deadline.
Despite being healthy and active, Kuminga hasn’t seen the floor the past three games, generating increased questions about what his leaguewide value will be Jan. 15, when he is trade-eligible.
Rookie Will Richard is also currently out of the rotation after getting a string of starts earlier in the season.
Injuries haven’t helped, either. Al Horford, the team’s big offseason signing, has missed 14 games and is dealing with a bout of sciatica. De’Anthony Melton just returned from ACL rehab. Green missed the three games prior to Sunday.
“I’m hoping we can correct that and have a sustained run of games where you know who is out there and you know what the rotations are and guys get comfortable,” Curry told reporters.
