The Golden State Warriors played with Stephen Curry sitting out on the sidelines for two straight games. Playing without their starting point guard, the Bay Area side suffered losses against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Dub Nation did receive some motivating news once the team announced that Curry would be making his return to the lineup. Facing the OKC for the third time, so far, in the campaign, supporters were certain that Steph would get his team out of their current losing skid.
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Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case. The battle between the two Western Conference teams was fierce. Both sides played some incredible basketball, with the contest witnessing 15 lead changes and 15 ties. The Chase Center was treated to an action-packed overtime thriller that ended with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and co. grabbing a 130-123 victory.
Had it not been for Chet Holmgren’s clutch three-pointer, the Warriors would’ve probably clinched a win. However, Holmgren sent the contest to overtime, where SGA took over.
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 19, 2023
Steve Kerr’s team had a great start to the season, winning six of their first eight games. But, with this latest result against the Thunder, the San Francisco side has suffered their sixth consecutive loss. Now holding an awful 6-8 record, Stephen Curry urged his teammates to develop an ego going forward. Following the contest, while speaking in the press conference, Curry reflected upon the team’s six-game losing streak:
“You gotta have an ego of who we are as a team. Kinda dig deep into that and in the meantime whatever adjustments we need to make, the way we are approaching both sides of the floor. Those details we will continue to talk about.”
Steph says the Warriors need to develop an “ego” of who they are as a team pic.twitter.com/l2AZtF2kBt
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 19, 2023
Stephen Curry and Co. missed Draymond Green’s presence
The Golden State Warriors admittedly played some phenomenal basketball. Individually, the members of the Warriors had some great performances. Andrew Wiggins recorded 31 points, Chris Paul lodged a 12-point double-double, and Stephen Curry had 25 points. Coming off the bench, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody combined for 19 points. However, as a unit, they weren’t able to click.
Serving a five-game suspension due to his activities during the contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Draymond Green was not available for the matchup. It was quite evident that the Warriors missed the presence of their forward, especially on the defensive end.
If Green had been part of the lineup, he would’ve probably guarded Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. These two players, dominating with Dray sidelined, combined for 58 points and 16 rebounds.
Going ahead, the Warriors have some tough matchups – the Rockets, the Suns, the Spurs, and the Kings. Of course, the Warriors need to make necessary adjustments as quickly as possible. If not, they could further fall in the standings.
