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Kendra AndrewsESPN
DETROIT — The Golden State Warriors lost their second straight Sunday night and their third on the road, falling 128-114 to the Detroit Pistons for a 3-4 record on the season.
Just a week into the season, the Warriors were plagued by the same problems in all of their games: transitional defense, lack of ball movement and excessive fouling.
The Warriors have been sending their message that they need some time to adjust to their new personnel and rotation, especially with a player like Klay Thompson back to full form. They are not panicking.
However, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said he didn’t feel the urgency to fix the problem, and the bigger problem is here.
“It’s going to take a little while,” Cole said. “We’ll get there. I’m very confident about that. But our players need to come together and have a sense of purpose. We have to figure out what that means.”
Guard Jordan Poole was one of the only Warriors to maintain a consistent sense of urgency against the Pistons, finishing the night with 30 points and scoring 15 straight in the third quarter. Stephen Curry led the team with 32 points. They are the only two Golden State players to score in double figures.
“We have to pick it up,” Poole said. “There were several people in the locker room who talked about our urgency and how we needed to come together. So it was definitely a focus.”
Golden State has scored at least 125 points in four of its first seven games, the second time in franchise history. The last time was during the 1962-63 season, according to ESPN’s Stats & Information study.
The Warriors have also dropped 854 points so far this season, the most by a defending champion in seven games in NBA history, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information. They have numbers. The league’s defensive rating is 21.
The Warriors have long followed the philosophy that their signature free-flowing and powerful offense stems from a solid defense. Now, forward Draymond Green says the Warriors’ offense — whether it’s on-court balance or lack of ball movement — is killing their defense.
“The reality is you can’t correct every problem,” Green said. “For us, it’s figuring out what’s really hurting us. Some of the things that hurt us aren’t going to beat you. So you don’t have to worry about that. But the things that hurt us and really beat us, we need to pinpoint exactly what that is . Once we can do that, we can go in and figure it out.
Green said they are still figuring out the details of their ongoing problem. One reason is that the Warriors are dealing with a sense of the unknown as they relearn how to play against opposing teams while putting together a new, younger second unit.
With the departure of Gary Payton II and Otto Porter Jr., the arrival of Donte DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green, and the increased workload of Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and James Wiseman, the Golden State Warriors’ rotation is almost entirely different from its championship team.
“It definitely makes it harder to execute on both ends of the floor when you’re playing against young players, but it’s never the young player’s fault,” Green said. “They’re as involved as all of us. We have to figure these things out, but it’s not just their fault. Let them change things, but we can blame them. Frankly, I don’t think any of us are It’s about playing so well on both ends of the floor.”
“The effort has been solid, but it’s not cohesive when we’re not all on the right track,” Curry added. “You can get people to try and do the right things, but that’s not going to lead to anything.”