Coming into the 2022-23 campaign, the Golden State Warriors were at the top of everyone’s leaderboards. After winning the title this past summer, they were able to keep their core intact in the offseason — and now get to run it back with their star-studded cast.
But at 2-2 on the season so far, the Warriors are finding it especially tough to earn wins nowadays. And after his team’s 134-105 loss to the Suns on Tuesday, 2x MVP Stephen Curry shared a nugget of wisdom about life as the defending champs.
“There’s a different glow when you walk in. Teams will try to come at you,” Curry said. “Especially on the road. Get the crowd into it, emotions running high. It’s a good learning lesson, you know, we have to defend ourselves, we gotta have that competitive nature, but stay composed as much as possible.”
The Phoenix Suns Dominated The Warriors In Their First Matchup Of The Season
The words come after a rather brutal night for the Warriors. Despite 21 from Steph and 17 from Jordan Poole off the bench, they had no answer for Devin Booker, who poured in 34 points on 52% shooting.
After the game, even Draymond Green found himself questioning the defensive identity of his team.
The Suns managed to score an impressive 72 points in the first half and anyone who has watched the Warriors this season, wouldn’t have been too surprised by them allowing so many points. It was the third game in a row that they had conceded 70 or more by the half and Draymond said they need to be more committed on defense.
“The commitment to defense isn’t there,” Green said. “That’s something we have to be better at, and it starts with me. And I’ll make sure we get there. But right now, we are a decent offensive team and a bad defensive team. I don’t expect that to be the case. It’s something we can change, we’ve just got to commit to it.”
Needless to say, there is still more than enough time for the Warriors to turn this thing around. As the defending champs, we should give them the benefit of the doubt in terms of making adjustments as a team.
Still, the Warriors will have to show some more fight if they hope to defend their championship. Curry, Klay, and Draymond have the right approach to it, but the young guys still have some learning to do.
