© Kyle Terada | 2019 Oct 24
The first few minutes of the Warriors’ much anticipated Chase Center debut was the stuff of nightmares.
The frenzy created by Klay Thompson’s pregame address to the crowd quickly died down, when Golden State opened their first game in San Francisco in over four decades by falling into a 14-0 hole. It wasn’t until D’Angelo Russell hit a floater three minutes into the game that the drought ended. By that point, Golden State had a much bigger concern.
Draymond Green left the court with what looked like a potentially serious injury to his right elbow after setting a screen on Patrick Beverley, and did not return for the remainder of the quarter.
Appears to be a shoulder issue for Draymond Green after setting this screen on Beverley (video via @gifdsports) pic.twitter.com/fbu9aJ0zgs
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) October 25, 2019
And yet neither crisis was quite as bad as it initially seemed. The Warriors would claw back in the quarter, thanks in large part to 10 consecutive points from Russell, and cut the deficit to 35-29 by quarter’s end. Green would also return for the second period, albiet with a wrap around his right elbow.
Though not catastrophic, the start was an omen that it would not be the Warriors’ night. It wasn’t. Golden State fell in convincing fashion 141-122, to what already looks like one of the best teams in the Western Conference.
The story of Thursday’s game was Golden State’s defense, or lack thereof. It’s not like we didn’t see this coming. The Warriors have two above average defensive players on their roster in Draymond Green (very good) and Kevon Looney (pretty good). That’s it.
Against a deep and talented Clippers team, they just had no chance. Los Angeles shot 62.5 percent from the field. Golden State never led.
They had no answer for Kawhi Leonard (9-for-17 for 21 points in just 21 minutes), to be expected. Unfortunately they also had no answer for Patrick Patterson (7-13, 6-10 from 3, 20 points), a problem. Nobody could stop Lou Williams driving to the basket (11-for-11 from the free throw line), or Montrezl Harrell inside (8-for-9, 18 points).
Even with a depleted and unproven roster, the Warriors offense has the potential to be above average based on Stephen Curry alone. But defensive efforts like Thursday’s will not allow Golden State to be competitive.
Speaking of that offense, it was also nowhere close to good enough on Thursday. Golden State shot an abysmal 39.4 percent from the field. Curry had a rough night, going 8-for-20, 2-for-11 from 3, with 23 points. Russell was a bit better in his debut, dropping 20 points while going 4-for-8 from downtown. The only other notable offensive contributors were Jacob Evans — who scored 14 points and had as many 3s in this game (4) as he had all of last season — and Draymond Green (3-for-6, 11 points), yet Green was also a game worst -35 during his time on the floor.
Looney was a non-contributor on the offensive end, and didn’t return for the second half as a precautionary measure (hamstring). Glenn Robinson III didn’t start scoring until garbage time. Jordan Poole was 1-for-12 and 1-for-7 from downtown.
Other than Evans, the other young bright spot was Eric Paschall, whose 31 minutes were the most of any young starter, and an indication that the Warriors coaching staff is impressed by his mature all around game. Paschall’s stat line was solid (14 points, four rebounds, three assists). The rookie looked like he knew what he was doing on both ends, and was one of the few positive takeaways from Thursday night’s brutal defeat.
On the bright side, it can’t get much worse than this.