‘Tough night’ for shorthanded Warriors who suffer blowout loss to Pelicans
Coach Steve Kerr took some of the blame Monday night after the Warriors suffered a 128-83 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.
With the core group of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green sitting out the latter half of the back-to-back one night after they led the team to its first road win of the season, Golden State’s youngsters opened the game sluggish and dug themselves in a hole they couldn’t get out of.
It all started with an ugly first quarter that saw Golden State turn the ball over seven times and get outscored 35-16. The Warriors had only four points after the game’s first six minutes. They played better in the second quarter and were only outscored by five.
But by halftime, it was all but over. The Warriors were down 65-41 at the break and failed to play the franchise’s brand of basketball that prioritizes ball movement. Golden State had only five assists while turning the ball over 16 times in the opening half. Golden State shot 38.9% from the field and went 3 of 18 from 3-point range.
The Warriors, who turned the ball over a season-high 27 times, never got within 20 points of the Pelicans in the second half.
“We’re trying too hard to create on our own instead of trusting the simple pass,” Kerr said after the loss. “I thought the effort was there but we didn’t execute very well. A lot of that is on me, I got to continue to work with these guys and teach better execution.”
Jordan Poole led the Warriors’ scoring with 26 points on 50% shooting. He had zero assists and four turnovers. Jonathan Kuminga had a few noteworthy moments and played solid defense on Zion Williamson, who finished with just nine points on 3 of 7 shooting. Kuminga chased down Williamson to block a shot early in the first quarter. He also had a high-flying putback dunk before halftime.
Kuminga made four of his 12 3-pointers and ended the night with 18 points, three rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal.
Kerr said the only silver lining in Monday’s loss was that the young players got another NBA game under their belt. That included rookies Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Ryan Rollins, whom the team recalled from the G League before the game for much-needed reinforcements.
Baldwin made his first NBA bucket in the fourth quarter and finished with seven points on 3 of 6 shooting and six rebounds. Rollins had three points, three rebounds and five turnovers.
“Every game, every practice, it’s all important,” Kerr said. “What I found early in my playing career is it takes a couple of years to get comfortable on an NBA floor… We have to be patient and like I said, I have to do a better job coaching them. We’re going to keep working with them.”
It’s noteworthy that even with the Warriors’ lacking size, without Green and with Kevon Looney playing limited minutes with a hand contusion that had him listed as questionable before tip-off, Golden State notably chose to leave former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman with the team’s G League affiliate.
“We felt it was important for him to get a really good stretch in Santa Cruz practicing,” Kerr said before the game. “When you get attention in the G league it’s easier to make progress than the stops and starts in the NBA when you aren’t in the rotation.”
The Warriors dropped to 1-9 on the road and 8-10 on the season. They’ll return home to play the 10-7 Los Angeles Clipper Wednesday before Friday’s home game against the surprising first-place Utah Jazz, who own a Western Conference-best 12-6 record.