Saturday was a night to forget for the Warriors.
The 126-91 loss to the lottery-bound Dallas Mavericks was the Warriors' worst at Oracle Arena under coach Steve Kerr. Golden State, without Steph Curry and chasing the Western Conference's top seed, weren't even close to the West's second-worst team.
If that sounds out of the ordinary for an NBA Finals contender, Kevin Durant doesn't think so.
"It's not odd at all," Durant told reporters in Oakland after the loss on Saturday (via ESPN). "I think everybody in that locker room has gotten their asses beat at home before. I know this experience is different, how much winning we've done the last few years. But we're still in the NBA. Guys have been a part of terrible games, along with the great games, as well. The good thing about it, we play tomorrow night too."
The Warriors were short-handed, and lopsided losses do happen to good -- even great -- teams. But wasn't Golden State supposed to have already turned this corner?
They weren't blown out on March 10, but the Warriors lost to the Zion Williamson-contending Phoenix Suns on that date. Golden State wasn't missing any regulars as was the case on Saturday, and the team said all the right things about that being a necessary wake-up call headed into a successful road trip.
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"The first two games were important to us, especially after that Phoenix loss," Durant said on March 19. "To come out and beat two teams on the road, it was probably the best two-game stretch of the season for us, and we needed that, we needed to feel good about ourselves, going on the plane, going to practice the next day."
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The grind and ensuing malaise of an 82-game season real, especially for a team that has played as many games as Golden State has in the last five years. Plus, the Warriors battled injuries and struggled mightly down the stretch of the regular season last year ... and still won their third championship in four seasons.
In other words, a March loss to the Mavericks might not mean all that much if the Warriors lift the Larry O'Brien Trophy once again. But if they don't, Durant might look back on it as a defeat that was odd, after all.
