What we learned in Warriors' embarrassing 53-point loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
A double dose of bad news Friday pushed the Warriors so close to the edge that the slightest nudge would send them over.
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The Toronto Raptors gave them a merciless shove.
With Stephen Curry ruled out in the morning and Draymond Green scratched shortly before tipoff, the deeply diluted Warriors took a 130-77 beating that by any measure is humiliating.
Andrew Wiggins scored a team-high 15 points, but didn’t get much help as the Warriors shot 32.9 percent from the field.
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Here are three takeaways from a game that drops the Warriors (23-26) three games below .500 for the first time this season:
Shoddy mentals
The Warriors committed enough unforgivable basketball sins to bring tears to the eyes of the hoop gods.
Leaving a good shooter to double-team a poor shooter? Sure. Silly fouls on 3-point shooters? OK, cool. Failing to box out on the glass? Of course. Sloppy in-bounds passes? We’ll take a couple. Telegraphed passes? Check. Ignoring open teammates to dribble into traffic? Check, check. Flat-footed defense? Check, check, check.
These kinds of fundamental mistakes this season have been as frequent as the vows to address them. Is anybody listening?
Mental mistakes can undo the best of teams. The Warriors are nowhere near that level, so their errors are bound to lead to blowouts such as this.
J-Wise struggles again
The team’s commitment to develop James Wiseman is hitting more barriers and clearings, and the rookie was dreadful for the second consecutive night.
One night after committing five turnovers in less than 20 minutes, Wiseman came out and committed three in the first half – two being a direct result egregious judgment.
Wiseman’s line: nine points, five rebounds, two assists, four fouls and three turnovers. He was minus-32 in 31 minutes.
Sure, Wiseman is a rookie. Sure, he’s young; he turned 20 on Wednesday. And, sure, he more than any of his teammates missed the presence and direction of Curry and Green
But a perceptible amount of growth has been slow to come. Indeed, there have been times when it appears he is regressing. At this stage, the Warriors will take one good game.
The abominable second quarter
After a modestly successful first quarter kept them within one (27-26), the Warriors delivered a second quarter that practically announced their unfitness on this night.
After Kent Bazemore made a couple free throws, pulling the Warriors within two (32-30) with 10:26 left in the half, the Warriors went nearly seven minutes without a field goal.
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They were trailing 54-32 when Damion Lee dropped in a corner 3-ball with 3:40 remaining, ending Toronto’s game-breaking 22-2 run.
What happened? While the Warriors were missing from point-blank range, the defense was surrendering a flurry of open shots. The Raptors made most of them.
What’s worse, the third and fourth quarters were even worse.
