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Perhaps nothing matters for these Warriors until the playoffs start.
Perhaps the Warriors’ embarrassing loss to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday is totally irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
After all, the Warriors have proven a few times this year that their top gear is better than anyone else’s in the NBA. And these are the back-to-back champions and a team that has been to the Finals four straight years — you can’t blame them for coasting in a game against the lowly Suns, as they did for more than 30 minutes on Sunday.
Despite another let-down loss, the Warriors remain adamant that they’re not concerned — their collective confidence has not been rattled.
Perhaps it never will be.
What will that bring about come the summer? At this point, that’s anyone’s guess.
The Warriors might be so talented that they can coast to a third-straight title. Or maybe they’ll engage for the postseason — at least the difficult rounds — and finally play the consistently excellent basketball they’ve only hinted at since DeMarcus Cousins has joined the fold.
That, or the Warriors might be so self-assured that they’re overlooking fatal flaws.
Regardless, as this season reaches its home-stretch, you can’t convince me that the unmistakable angst around this team — one that was apparent both after the team’s emphatic, point-proving win against the Nuggets Friday and their embarrassing losses to the Celtics and Suns and Tuesday and Sunday — is inconsequential.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said that his team ran afoul of Karma on Sunday — that’s why they lost the game.
Believe in it or not, that’s a powerful force to envoke regarding a basketball game.
But Kerr was right, there was some negative energy in play. And the pervasive bad vibes aroudn this team manifested on Sunday night — losses to the Suns tend to bring out the worst.
We saw Kerr, if lip-readers and a clip of Sunday night’s broadcast are to be believed, declare that he’s sick of Draymond Green’s… antics. I certainly doubt that’s positive.
The music makes it. pic.twitter.com/OHnqSbefI8
— Dieter Kurtenbach (@dkurtenbach) March 11, 2019
Green — who took umbrage with the media on Friday, defending the aggrieved DeMarcus Cousins — skipped his announced post-game press conference as the video made the digital rounds.
Kerr declined to talk about the incident Sunday night, saying that he would “address the media” Monday.
We also heard Klay Thompson declare, unprompted, that he was disappointed with the Oracle Arena crowd following Sunday’s game.
“I expect our crowd to be a little more into it,” Thompson said. “I know it’s not the playoffs, but it’s our last go-around at Oracle. At least you can stand up when someone makes a good play, especially in the beginning when we need that energy, especially this time of year.”
“It’s hard to conjure up energy every single night because you are looking forward to the playoffs and that run. We expect our fans to kind of bring that jump… We need the energy from them because we feed off that.”
And Kevin Durant, who is leading the team in angst at the moment — his sessions with the media remain icy and contentious (at least for him), weeks after his infamous “grow up” press conference — reportedly expressed his displeasure with the team as he left the game after spraining his ankle in the fourth quarter Sunday.
Went down to the press room early and happened to pass KD as he went to the locker room, was yelling as he walked by.
"Stupid as motherf—ing game we playing. We need to be playing championship level basketball."
— Sam Hustis (@SamHustis) March 11, 2019
The Warriors — renowned for their joy — do not seem to be in a joyous place right now.
The reason behind it might be innocuous — a byproduct of boredom and scrutiny; a natural projection that comes from losing games to bad teams amid high expectations.
But no matter the cause, if you’re looking for an area for the Warriors to begin their late-season push — the one the promised less than a week ago — it’s not the X’s and O’s, it’s the team’s spirit.
Maybe the inclusion of Andrew Bogut will positively affect things. Maybe this team is a win over Houston away from their seemingly collective bad mood disappearing.
“[We’re] still first in the West and still understand what our goal is to get home court and go into the playoffs with the right mentality,” Stephen Curry said.
But at the moment, this team’s mentality doesn’t seem proximate to “right”. I doubt that’s an easy fix, but it’s a necessary one.
Because bad energy — the kind the Warriors are showing off in spades at the moment — a nasty habit of undercutting teams when the stakes are high.
And those moments are roughly a month away.