“Kick ‘em while they’re down,” was the response of Sacramento Kings star, De’Aaron Fox when asked about today’s matchup against the Golden State Warriors. It seems to be the prevailing sentiment from the league, and the universe at large. Fresh off the worst home loss of the Steve Kerr era in Golden State, the Warriors are headed up to Sacramento to face a Kings team that has already trounced them twice.
On the injury front, it sounds as if the same players will be out for the Warriors. Draymond Green is expected to miss at least a week, and Jonathan Kuminga for significantly longer than that. Up until the February 6th trade deadline, the Warriors are still forced to stare into the abyss and see if they can see any glimmer of light.
WHO: Golden State Warriors (21-21) at Sacramento Kings (22-20)
WHEN: Wednesday, January 22nd, 2025; 7pm PST
WATCH: ESPN; NBCSBA
…Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
With Stephen Curry, it really is possible that this team could go all the way. It would take plenty of fortuitous bounces, some injury luck, and probably a couple of dramatic leaps in individual performance, but none of these things are literally impossible. For those of us that have been around long enough to pine for trading our entire roster for prime Kevin Garnett, there’s a clear case to be made for going all in on a GOAT and riding out the odds in all other regards.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, this is uncomfortably close to the truth for a franchise that is running out of options. For some, the hope ran out long ago. Decisions from bench players to lottery picks that didn’t pan out, or exposed an opportunity cost the size of Chris Boucher have sapped whatever goodwill remained from the team’s most recent championship. Just three years removed, but light years out of reach.
The reality is somewhere closer to the middle though. This team isn’t looking like a championship team, but the margins aren’t so tight for making the playoffs – an acceptable fate for a team as wobbly as this year’s Warriors.
But a lot will hinge on the next week or two. Draymond Green is out for most of it. Kuminga won’t be back until after the trade deadline. Sometimes treading water is fine, given the broader context. It’s trash can, not a trash can’t!
“But just the idea that we can keep ourselves afloat until we get some guys back can kind of make or break our season to be honest, to keep it real. … Nobody’s counting game-by-game type thing, but a six- to eight-game stretch can kind of define where we are going forward the rest of the season.”
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That was Curry himself, during his postgame availability. If anyone would know where the sidewalk of hope ends, it would be Curry. In their last game, Curry scored 18 points – the same grand total as the rest of the starters combined. The entire Warriors team managed just 85 points; not a great output in a 40 point loss.
The Warriors, believe it or not, are actually generating good looks. Without Green, they simplified and ran a ton of pick and rolls against the Celtics. All to no avail. And this may well be the hardest aspect to watch this year: there aren’t many unexplored options. No more calls for minutes to Kevon Looney off the bench. Kerr’s motion offense doesn’t seem to be holding anyone back from personally taking over the game off the dribble. Everything is just “meh.”
Tonight is the only one of the Warriors’ next eight games that aren’t at home. Golden State doesn’t need to be great, but passably good over this next stretch is starting to feel pretty close to mandatory for a team that is palpably losing hope. The season could be lost before Kuminga comes back.
Unless…
Like the Lorax, I find myself wondering what it would take for this to all turn around. Steph Curry, Dennis Schröder, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, and Trayce Jackson-Davis started against the Washington Wizards. It was barely enough, but it was a win. This team doesn’t need to be fighting for their spot in the history books, they just need to look relatively competitive for long enough to blame their ultimate shortfall on something else. So we can keep the dying flame of hope alive for a little bit longer.
Wiggins can work as a second option at this point in his career, if he can constantly perform at the highest level. We’ve seen it in the playoffs, and in flashes during the regular season, but Wiggins discovering another gear would be an easy stop-gap fix for the Warriors.
Another potential light at the end of the tunnel here is the scoring efficiency of some of the newest risers in Kerr’s rotation. Look at the PSA, or Points scored per (100) attempts from Cleaning the Glass – maybe Kerr and the Warriors are homing in on some offensive answers?
Of course, it didn’t look like this team was anywhere close to an answer against the Celtics, but against the backdrop of this season, a failure to defeat the defending champs without your full roster hardly makes an appearance on the list of biggest transgressions.
There are some answers here. A lot of “not answer” sort of players perhaps, but some that have what it takes to make it through the crucible. It’s been a tough season, full of learning; but it’s not time to quit.
Payton shuts down Fox. Gui Santos out hustles the Kings. Curry does Curry stuff. Warriors win.
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