The Warriors' Road Woes Continue + the Latest on Andrew Wiggins

On the back end of a back-to-back, on the road against a top-3 team in the West, it was safe to assume that the Warriors would lose. They did exactly that, equating to their 11th consecutive road loss, and dropping back into the play-in. The fact that the Warriors could enter this 5-game road trip at the 5 seed, but three games later, drop back into the play-in simply shows how competitive the Western Conference is this year but also how poorly the 2022-2023 Warriors consistently play on the road. I had this glimmer of hope that the Warriors would turn up and lock in since they were playing their new rivals, but clearly, I was wrong. Let's look at how the Warriors lost by 14 after being down just 2 early in the fourth. 

1. Guarding the Triple

A consistent theme for the Warriors which they clearly have not found the solution to. It's truly mind-boggling how the Warriors can go from the 3rd best team in the entire NBA at guarding the three-point line when playing at home to dead last in the NBA at guarding the three-point line when they are on the road. Defensive principles are the same, and the Warriors personnel generally remains the same, so the only explanation for this incredible disparity in guarding the three-point line at home versus on the road is this: a lack of focus from the Warriors' players. It seems like the Warriors' players become lazy on defense when on the road, potentially because of the home crowd jeering at the Warriors and cheering for their squad. There were multiple instances where the Warriors were not communicating on switches and rotations, leading to wide-open triples, and other instances where the Warriors were not even closing out with effort. For this game between the Grizzlies and the Warriors in particular, the Warriors shot a decent 37.1% from three,  but the Grizzlies shot an insane 47.4% from three. If the Warriors cannot change the way they play defense on the road, then teams will continue to splash threes right in front of their grill, making it extremely hard to repeat as champions. 

2. Lack of Production from the Stars

On the day when the bench production of the Warriors absolutely blew out the bench production of the Grizzlies thanks to Jonathan Kuminga and Jordan Poole, the stars failed to produce, with Steph dropping just 16 points on 33% shooting and Klay dropping a measly 14 points on 35% shooting, with 22% from three, and a -30 plus-minus. Perhaps the pressure of playing their rivals on the road and the trash talk from Dillon Brooks got to them, but simply put, those are not winning numbers. On the other hand, Desmond Bane had 26 points on 59% shooting, Dillon Brooks had 18 on 70% shooting and 100% from three, and Jaren Jackson had the game of his life, with 31 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks. When the defense is not stellar, which seems to be a reoccurring theme for the Warriors on the road, the offense has to produce, but when there isn't even any offensive production from the stars, then the Warriors are bound to get blown out. On a positive note, Jordan Poole finally had a good, relatively efficient game on the road, and Jonathan Kuminga played absolutely fantastically, easily the best player on the Warriors today. 

Now, lets talk about the latest rumors surrounding the mysterious situation of Andrew Wiggins. Wiggins has been missing since the All-Star Break, absent in the last 15 games for the Warriors, clearly meaning that these personal matters are beyond serious. It seems like his teammates and coaches are the only ones that truly know what is going on with Wiggins, and thankfully, they are giving him all their time and support, but rumors have come out regarding Andrew Wiggins' absence, a scenario so disturbing that this prolonged absence is absolutely justified. The rumor is that Andrew Wiggins' wife had an affair with Andrew Wiggins' best friend in the past, and the children that Andrew Wiggins thinks are his and is currently raising are not even his, but rather, his best friend's.  Whatever the actual scenario or personal matters is, it is important to say this: Andrew Wiggins, Dub Nation hopes you are well and wishes nothing but the best for you.