The Warriors have lost eight of their last 10 games after LeBron James’ 56-point beatdown, and a win to break the funk will be even harder to come by on Monday.
Golden State doesn’t plan to send many of its key players to Denver for its upcoming game against the Nuggets, head coach Steve Kerr said postgame. That list includes Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins.
“We’re not sending a lot of our players to Denver,” Kerr told reporters. “The decision was pretty easy.”
Monday’s game was supposed to take place on Dec. 30, 2021, but was postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak with the Nuggets. The rescheduled game has created a stretch of three games in four nights, with the Nuggets contest sandwiched between two games in Los Angeles.
Given the crammed schedule, the Warriors don’t want to “put our high-minutes guys at risk,” Kerr said.
“It’s a tough make-up game situation, squeezing it in, having a back-to-back obviously,” Stephen Curry said. “Understanding the big picture, you don’t want to overreact to what happened tonight or what the plan is, but I don’t know. Maybe it’ll give us a little boost to finish the year strong. Get some guys back. But it kind of is what it is at this point.”
After GSW’s 124-116 loss to the free-falling Lakers, Curry said the Warriors are “giving into a losing mentality.” They’ve lost four straight games and haven’t been the same team without Draymond Green, who’s been sidelined since Jan. 10 with an L5-S1 back injury and has no timetable for return.
When building continuity and finding your stride heading into the playoffs can be pivotal for championship teams, punting on a game — as GSW appears to be doing with Denver — takes conviction.
“We cannot give in to this losing spirit of finding different ways to lose basketball,” Curry said. “The clock will tick out on you and you’ll go into the summer thinking what could’ve been, what should’ve been. Have regrets. I don’t want to let us get into that vibe. Obviously, 18 games left, we have to figure out how to turn things around pretty quick.”
Well that turnaround may have to wait until Tuesday, back in LA, against the Clippers.
