Return of Draymond, Wiseman and Andre will decide Warriors’ fate originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
SAN FRANCISCO – As the Warriors hobble into the All-Star break with the momentum of a paper towel against a brick wall, harmlessly, helplessly, dropping head-first to the floor, their pleading eyes turn squarely toward the trainer’s table.
That’s where their season, for better or worse, will be decided.
They’ve lost four of their last five games, concluding the pre-break schedule Wednesday night at Chase Center with the kind of heartbreaking finish that ought to weigh heavy on the minds of everyone, players and coaches, stirring earnest vows to be better. Or at least less imperfect.
“We can nitpick the details, and that’s our job as a staff,” coach Steve Kerr said after a 117-116 loss on a buzzer-beater by Denver Nuggets guard Monte Morris. “I’m going to beat myself up tonight and I won’t sleep because there are several things that I’ll kick myself for and think ‘I should have done this,’ or ‘I should have done that.’ The players will all do that because that’s what the business is. It’s competition at the highest level.”
Analysis and repetition theoretically foster growth, which is the surest way to improve. Kerr knows this. Even with a 42-17 record that’s second-best in the NBA and appreciably ahead of any rational projections, the Warriors will have to be better to get where they want to go. It’s not championship-or-bust, but anything less is unwelcome.
Nobody feels that more than Stephen Curry. He turns 34 next month and is the eldest member of the starting lineup and second only to Andre Iguodala (38) on the roster. As the clock ticked toward 11 late Wednesday night, the two-time MVP and team leader took a few moments to address the immediate future.
“We’re in a solid position in terms of where we are in the standings,” he said. “Optimism. We’ll get a couple guys back, or a few guys back, after the break. And then we’ve got to figure out what our rotation is going into the playoffs.
“But overall, it’s a solid place to be. We have to focus on that. And if we play like we did (Wednesday) consistently down the stretch and continue to elevate our performance on the defensive end, we’re going to be just fine going into a stretch run this season.
“Tonight was a decent step in the right direction even though we feel like trash right now.”
The Warriors have pretty much given up on the possibility of obtaining the No. 1 overall seed, which is wise inasmuch as they’re 6.5 games behind the first-place Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference. They believe, however, that a healthy roster is good enough to give them a chance to beat any team they encounter.
That means getting Draymond Green, Igoudala and James Wiseman — back on the court for the stretch run. Iguodala is crucial and Wiseman greatly beneficial, but Green is essential to fixing the defensive deficiencies that have surfaced in his five-week absence.
“Fixed is a tough word, just because there are other things that we have to correct while getting him back up to speed,” Curry said. “Obviously, Andre hasn’t played a lot as of late and then, the question marks around what Wise is going to bring at some point.
“We are in that final third of the year. We haven’t been whole in a long time, so you’re trying to hold the fort down because I know the way that we are constructed and the way that pieces fit, we can compete with anybody. We know that.”
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The best the Warriors can hope for is that Iguodala returns shortly after the break, with the first game coming Feb. 24 at Portland. They then return home to face the Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 27 before a three-game road trip to Minnesota, Dallas and Los Angeles, to face the Lakers on March 5.
They hope Wiseman can make his 2021-22 debut early next month. They wish Green can return a few weeks before the April 10 regular-season finale.
“We do need Draymond,” Curry said. “We need Andre. We need guys to be healthy and see what we have in terms of full rotation, a full roster and kind of go from there. Until that happens, just keep plugging, keep building, and guys keep getting reps and see what happens.”
The Warriors now understand their margin for error is thin enough to see through, which puts them in that uneasy place where everyone and everything is up for inspection. Lineups. Rotations. Rebounding. Defensive strategies. Shot selection. Late-game situations; both Kerr and Curry bollixed that one Wednesday night.
The question the Warriors must answer over the final 23 games is not whether they are capable of winning their fourth championship in eight seasons but whether they can get healthy enough, soon enough, to make a legitimate run at it.
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