Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports
Nov. 2, 2018, saw a starting five of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Damian Jones, with Andre Iguodala chipping in eight assists off the bench in an easy victory over the Timberwolves.
To say that this season’s Nov. 2 lineup is different is akin to saying the state’s droughts are not good. Both technically accurate, neither nearly sufficing.
D’Angelo Russell’s tweaked ankle, suffered Friday, will need more time to heal and Draymond Green’s torn ligament in his finger, also incurred against the Spurs, will glue him to the bench for at least a few games.
The reigning West champs are left with rookie Ky Bowman at point guard — without a sensible backup — rookie Jordan Poole, rookie Eric Paschall, Glenn Robinson III and Willie Cauley-Stein. Call it the extra light years.
Starting three rookies does not leave Golden State much of a chance, even against Charlotte on Saturday. Steve Kerr gets it.
“The success will be more nuanced in a lot of ways, especially right now with so many injuries,” Kerr said at Chase Center. “But the way we’re approaching things, we’re trying to help individual players make certain improvements in certain aspects of their game. And then we’re all always trying to improve as a team for execution.”
The most glaring hole is at point, where the Warriors (1-4) will start Bowman and his 3.4 points per game. Poole will figure to shift over and Damion Lee is the most sensible backup, but even a team better prepared for disaster would find it difficult to compensate for Stephen Curry’s absence.
The next-most glaring void is at forward, where Green would be without ligament damage to his left index finger. He said he couldn’t grip the ball for much of Friday’s game.
“He’s going to miss the next few games for sure,” said Kerr, who added, “It’s not something that should keep him out for a long time.”
The most recent Chase Center victim was Russell, though. Without much help, the point guard transformed into the ball-dominant lead he was with Brooklyn last season, scoring 30 with eight assists in the loss to San Antonio. Until he turned his ankle and still was in pain Saturday morning. Kerr said “it got worse overnight,” and while it does not figure to linger too long, each game will be painful without him.
The Warriors have gone from unbelievable to, well, unbelievable.
“The biggest thing is to simplify the offense and the defense, and just keep the menu limited so that you can execute a few things well rather than have a whole bunch of things in your head that confuse you,” said Kerr, who entered 323-92 in his five-plus seasons as Warriors coach.
“There’s a reality to the situation that is difficult for everybody to deal with, particularly a guy like Draymond, who’s so competitive, who’s so used to winning, who knows nothing but winning.”
The Warriors may have to get used to not winning.