The Warriors rolled into Memphis on Thursday seeking an opportunity to restart their season and were annihilated in public.
Their 144-93 loss to the Grizzlies at FedExForum was an all-out assault on the eyes and, in an professional basketball sense, perfectly suited to everyone draping a towel over their entire disbelieving heads.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
The energy the Warriors hoped to generate for Dennis Schröder's debut never materialized. They trailed by 22 after one quarter and got no closer than 31 in the second half.
Andrew Wiggins’ 19 points (in 21 minutes) and Brandin Podziemski’s team-high 21 were completely and appropriately obscured by such stunning facts as Stephen Curry missing all seven of his field-goal attempts, Draymond Green committing four turnovers and four fouls in 19 minutes and coach Steve Kerr not throwing a clipboard onto the court.
The loss leaves Golden State, which has lost nine of its last 11 games, with a 14-12 record, while Memphis improved to 19-9.
Here are three observations from the night the Warriors couldn’t slow the assertive Grizzlies or find the bottom of the net with a telescope:
Golden State Warriors
Find the latest Golden State Warriors news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
Schroder’s Nightmarish Debut
Schröder's debut went about as poorly as possible. The best that can be said is that he sustained no apparent injury during his 22 minutes.
The newest member of the Warriors was in the starting lineup and opened at point guard, giving Curry a chance to play off the ball, and made his first shot, a midrange jumper that accounted for Golden State’s first bucket.
Schröder gets his first Warriors points 👏 pic.twitter.com/OLq2AjJwyI
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 20, 2024
Schröder missed his next nine shots – before snapping that skid midway through the third quarter – and committed three turnovers during that span. He finished with five points, five assists and four turnovers and a minus-34 for the evening.
It’s unfair to expect Schröder to make an instant splash after a whirlwind five days. He moved from one coast to another, to a struggling Warriors team that plays a different style than the Brooklyn Nets led through the first eight weeks of the season.
But this was a dream turned horror. A debut he’ll want to forget – if he didn’t immediately after the final buzzer.
Early Defensive Tone Will Have To Wait
Despite all the talk about wanting to make an early statement on defense – as indicated with Green’s return to the starting lineup – the Warriors put up one of their worst first quarters of the season.
It got no better over the final three quarters.
In less than four minutes, Golden State was down 11 (13-2). When Memphis closed the quarter with an 11-2 run (in less than two minutes), the Warriors walked to the bench trailing 37-15.
The defense was bad, and Golden State’s sloppy offense made it worse by committing eight turnovers that gave the Grizzlies 12 points as they shot 53.8 percent from the field, including 46.7 percent from deep while taking a 22-point lead into the second quarter.
The Warriors’ 15 points came on 4-of-23 (17.4 percent) shooting from the field, including 2-of-10 (20 percent) beyond the arc. Aside from Wiggins’ nine points in eight minutes, Golden State’s first-half offense was slightly more than a concept.
That, combined with imaginary second-half defense, is how the Warriors finished with 91 points, shooting 35.6 percent from the field, including 33.3 from deep.
Curry Again Below His Standard
It might be nothing of great significance. Or it might be something ominous.
Curry shot 0 of 7 from the field, including 0 of 6 from beyond the arc, and finished with two points, both on free throws in the second quarter.
While his 3-ball has been solid lately – 40 percent over his previous 18 games – the rest of his shooting is utterly uncharacteristic of his standard.
Curry’s 0 of 7 game follows nine consecutive games in which he shot below 50 percent from the field. This comes as the 36-year-old is dealing with soreness in both knees and, well, probably a few other physical ailments.
Kerr, trying to make life easier for Curry, purposely opened the game with him playing off the ball. It made no difference.
Curry never has been one to cite injuries as an excuse; he hates to acknowledge them. But this is, at the very least, a concerning stretch of basketball by the team’s touchstone. His last game with more than 30 points was on Nov. 12, more than five weeks ago. He has scored fewer than 25 points in six of his last nine games.
The next several games should tell us whether this is a temporary problem or something more troubling.