SAN FRANCISCO – The NBA Cup was a chance for the Warriors to compete on the big stage, under bright lights and brighter courts, even in the middle of December. To earn some extra cash, to measure themselves with the best in the league and to prove their winning culture has been re-established.
All that came to a crashing, controversial halt Wednesday night in Houston when the Warriors lost in the quarterfinals to the Rockets at Toyota Center, 91-90. In more ways than one, the loss also might have been the best thing for the Warriors.
It dropped them to 14-10 after starting the season 12-3. The Warriors were vocal in their desire to make it to Las Vegas for the semifinals and finals. Every win matters, as does building winning habits. But sometimes rest and reset is exactly what a team needs.
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Especially during the type of stretch in the schedule the Warriors had been facing.
“We have one game in the next seven days, so we’ll have four good practices,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Friday after practice at Chase Center. “I think it really allows us to address some of these situational things in our late-game offense, late-quarter stuff.
“And it’s on us as a group – coaches and players – it’s on us to make these improvements and start closing these games out.”
Beginning with their final NBA Cup group stage game, another controversial end but this time in Denver against the Nuggets, the Warriors played five games in just over a week’s time. They went 2-3 in that stretch, beating the Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves at home, while also losing to the Timberwolves at home and to the Nuggets and Rockets on the road.
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Little time was allowed for rest and correcting mistakes that have bit the Warriors at the worst times. Now, they have the ability to focus on both.
“I mean, it’s the silver lining,” Kerr said. “We’d rather be in Vegas playing tomorrow, obviously, but we’re not. So let’s take advantage of the schedule. Get some rest, get guys healthy, get some good practices in and get sharp for what’s ahead.”
During that grueling five-game stretch in the middle of a month’s long slate of tough games for the Warriors, a handful of players missed time. Draymond Green (left calf) missed two games, as did Andrew Wiggins (right ankle). Steph Curry (bilateral knee pain) missed one. Moses Moody (left knee) was forced to miss two second halves, and was out for all of last game in Houston.
Time off is needed. Time to lock in on the little things is equally as needed, too.
What looked like a win to punch their ticket to Vegas turned into yet another cold spell down the stretch Wednesday night for the Warriors. As they went scoreless for the final three minutes, the Warriors had back-to-back shot clock violations and went three straight possessions without even getting a shot off.
Organization and execution have been the Warriors’ latest buzzwords. Through their first 24 games, the Warriors now have played in 15 clutch games, including 12 of their last 14 and nine of their last 10. They’re 7-8 in clutch games this season after going 24-24 last season, despite Curry being the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year.
“I think it’s really beneficial for us to get some more practice time in,” Kevon Looney said. “During an NBA season, it’s really hard to get really good practices in. Over this little time, we got more practices than games, so we’ve got to work on all the execution things, all the small things that we keep talking about on film that we actually get to go out there on the practice court and work out the kinks.”
When the Warriors left San Francisco for Houston, they packed for an 11-day road trip where they would have gone from Houston to Las Vegas and then Memphis and Minnesota. Once they lost, they took Thursday off before hitting the practice court Friday.
After three days off of games from their previous contest, Golden State welcomes Klay Thompson and the Dallas Mavericks again on Sunday and then doesn’t play again until Thursday when the Warriors will face the Grizzlies in Memphis, and then board a plane to play the Timberwolves on Saturday in Minnesota.
“We’re taking advantage of them,” Lindy Waters III said of extra practices. “Unfortunate in the situation, but got to stay in the present moment and know that we got a couple practices where we can figure out where we can get better execution.
“We don’t get stretches like this at all during the season, so we’re just going to take advantage of it.”
Practice, even at the highest professional level, makes perfect.