The Golden State Warriors played their second game in a row without star guard Stephen Curry on Thursday night, and the team struggled once again without the availability of its leading scorer. They were even more short-handed due to the five game suspension for Draymond Green, and the Warriors fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder to suffer their 5th loss in a row.
Warriors Lose Again As Thompson Goes 1 For 10
Klay Thompson tonight:
5 Points
1/10 FGM
1/6 3PM pic.twitter.com/UqKnsDf499— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) November 17, 2023
Aside from Curry, the rest of the team’s roster has struggled to score points so far this year. Through the first eleven games of the season, before Curry’s injury, no other player had put up more than 20 points in any single game, and Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins have both struggled with their shots all season long.
Thompson was especially poor against the Thunder. He was 1 for 10 from the field, finishing with 5 points in a night that his presence was badly needed in order for his team to have a chance to win. And aside from a couple of flurries that brought the game within single digits, the Warriors didn’t have much of a chance all evening. After the game, head coach Steve Kerr pointed out that OKC loaded up on Thompson defensively with Curry on the sidelines, and that was the reason that he wasn’t able to get much going.
Can Golden State Be Contenders Even With Curry?
“They loaded up on him…We weren’t really able to get any space for him.”
Steve Kerr on Klay Thompson going 1-for-10 against the Thunder.
(via @KNBR)pic.twitter.com/7dqTE4yn2o
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 17, 2023
It is the 6th loss in the last 7 games for Golden State, and have a home record of just 1-5 so far in 2023. Curry should be returning from injury within the next couple of games, and the team has a chance to win any time he is in the game. But can leaning on their 35-year-old star for an entire season be a winning formula for a team with a closing championship window? Chris Paul was seen as a nice addition during the first few games of the season, but the last few have shown that he may not be able to lead the team to victories if Curry happens to miss any extended period of time.
Golden State will play the second game of their back-to-back with the Thunder on Saturday evening. The schedule doesn’t get any easier after that, with games against the red-hot Houston Rockets and struggling-but-still-dangerous Phoenix Suns.
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