As a whole, the Warriors’ 13th starting five this year should be able to beat the best teams. This group of Warriors played worse in practice than almost any other group this year. They lost 133–118 to the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night. After halfway, fans booed the Warriors because they thought it would be one of their worst games of the season.
With just over six minutes left in the fourth quarter, coach Steve Kerr sent the players to the benches for “garbage time.” At that point, Chase Center was empty. The Warriors’ defense was one of their worst, and Draymond Green was watching from the bench because he had just been released from his indefinite ban and could not play because he needed to work on his conditioning.
Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Andrew Wiggins, and Jonathan Kuminga were put with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Jackson-Davis, but the group was a minus-12 in six minutes together. The Warriors gave up a season-high 76 points at halftime, and the Raptors’ attack smashed them in transition. No one off the bench could stop them.
Kuminga and Wiggins together give Golden State all the size and length they need to defend against the Raptors and other teams with speed and size. They are also a force on the boards and a downhill threat on offense. But they had trouble scoring and getting rebounds, and Curry was often left to guard a switch by himself.
The second half saw Golden State’s defense get stronger. Klay Thompson scored 11 points in the third quarter to cut Toronto’s 27-point lead to nine. The Raptors went on a 22–11 run to get their lead back up to 25 points in the middle of the fourth quarter after Thompson was taken out with one minute left in the third quarter. Kerr then raised the white flag. Curry did not have a good night. He only made 2 of 14 shots from the field and 0 of 9 attempts from three-point range.
The Warriors have lost two of their last seven home games. Their last game is on Tuesday against the hot New Orleans Pelicans. After that, they will be going on the road to play in Chicago, Milwaukee, Memphis, and Salt Lake City. Their record is 17–19.
