The Golden State Warriors have been eliminated from the In-Season Tournament after blowing a 24-point lead to the Sacramento Kings in tonight’s marquee matchup. Warriors fans were stunned to see their team fall apart and flooded social media with angry comments.
Final from Sacramento pic.twitter.com/b3PufnlpI3
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) November 29, 2023
Fans couldn’t believe how badly they choked, expressing hate for the franchise in their current state.
I hate this fucking team.
I’ve never seen a choke job this bad.
— WarriorsMuse (@WarriorsMuse) November 29, 2023
Many pure NBA fans loved the action on the court.
Kings Warriors is the gift that keeps on giving.. s/o the basketball Gods 🥳
— PeeWeeDaPlug (@PeeWeeDaPlug) November 29, 2023
Fans were shocked to see the aggressive defense on Stephen Curry and the rest of the team still not being able to help out their team leader.
Do these Warriors players not feel ashamed as men that the Kings are deadass doubling Curry 50 feet from the rim and they still can’t score
— Aligned RB (@RyB_311) November 29, 2023
Fans criticized the refereeing.
Refs taking over another Warriors game. 40 free throw attempts for the Kings IN THE SECOND HALF ALONE. Rigged
— Steph Curry Muse (@StephMuse_) November 29, 2023
More fans were critical of the refs, but also criticized the team losing control of the game.
Refs lost control of this game and now the Warriors can’t get their emotions under control.
— Niko (@nikotaughtyou) November 29, 2023
Fans criticized the Warriors for blowing a 17-point halftime lead in the loss.
Warriors when it comes to blowing leads pic.twitter.com/LvUXwKLKrG
— Chef curry (Parody) (@baby_face_goat) November 29, 2023
Steve Kerr’s coaching decisions came under fire, especially with his poor rotations that saw players like Moses Moody get benched while playing well.
Steve Kerr with mistake after mistake in the 4th. Benches Steph and then subs out a red hot Moses Moody who is the only guy who can make a shot right now
— Gautam Ratnam (@GautamRatnamNBA) November 29, 2023
The Warriors did their best, with Stephen Curry‘s 29-point night being supplemented by 29 points from Andrew Wiggins and 20 points from Klay Thompson, despite their poor performances holding the Warriors back for most of the season.
The Kings have already lost to the Warriors twice this year and finally got a win over the team that eliminated them in the first round of the 2023 Playoffs. De’Aaron Fox had 29 points and 10 rebounds, but Kevin Huerter did well to drop 21 points and nine rebounds of his own. Domantas Sabonis struggled to score, ending the night with just nine points. But he impacted the game in other ways, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing 10 dimes.
The Warriors Should Be Worried
This game doesn’t have as easy an explanation as ‘nobody showed up’. The Kings had a great defensive scheme on Curry, which opened the door for Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson to have strong contributions. But beyond these three, there aren’t really any consistent offensive options. Dario Saric can light it up off the bench, but to consistently rely on him to do that is unfair, given he’s a minimum signing who’s been overplaying his value so far this season.
The second-half execution was shockingly bad, as the Warriors couldn’t get their offense going. Draymond Green returned from his five-game suspension and didn’t look like the defensive anchor that he serves as for the squad. He may take another game or two to adjust to the team, but they’re 8-10 now and falling further back of the top of the West.
Curry on his own is sensational, but teams will find a way to make the Warriors beat them without Curry going off. In recent seasons, the role-players would step up to make that possible, with both Jordan Poole and Klay averaging over 20 points last season. Nobody is averaging close to 20 points on the Warriors, with Curry leading the team with 29.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 4.1 assists averages on the season.
The team may have to consider roster changes via trade this season if they want to be legitimate contenders in the West. Whether they play well or not, it seems the roster is putting a ceiling on them that we saw last year as well. A second-round appearance isn’t the goal for this team, so they need to make some changes if they want to compete for a title.
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