What we learned as Warriors’ late-game woes continue in loss to Nets

What we learned as Warriors’ late-game woes continue in loss to Nets originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

CASH SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO – No lead is safe in the NBA, as the Warriors learned again Monday night at Chase Center against the rebuilding and shorthanded Brooklyn Nets.

The Warriors on Saturday in San Antonio led by 17 points in the third quarter and I ended up losing by 10. After a day of rest, the Warriors enjoyed an 18-point lead over the Nets in the third quarter. That lead was reduced to just five heading into the fourth quarter.

With just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter, the lead had vanished. The Warriors never got it back, losing 128-120. Brooklyn outscored Golden State 41-28 in the fourth quarter.

Steph Curry scored a team-high 28 points and was 8 of 16 on 3-pointers. Andrew Wiggins added 18. Moses Moody scored 15, but all in the first half. Lindy Waters gave the Warriors 13 points, 10 of which came in the first half.

Inexcusably, the Warriors were once again crushed at the free throw line. The Nets made 26 of their 30 free throws. The Warriors, however, made 11 of 17 free throws, making 15 fewer free throws in an eight-point loss.

Here are three takeaways from Golden State’s frustrating second straight loss.

3 point game

As is often the case in the NBA, the deciding factor between these two teams was clearly going to be the 3-point line. The Warriors and Nets entered Monday ranked in the top seven in 3-point attempts per game. While Brooklyn was seventh, averaging 40.6 attempts per game, Golden State was slightly ahead with 41.6 attempts, fourth in the NBA.

It was immediately clear that it was going to be a three-point shootout at the Chase Center. In the first quarter, the Warriors and Nets combined for 48 shots, and 31 were from beyond the arc. Although the Warriors were more accurate to start the game, the Nets held a six-point lead from deep through the first 12 minutes and led by four.

The lead at halftime then belonged to the Warriors. They made two more three-pointers than the Nets in the first half and led by nine points. Six Warriors had already capitalized on the deep.

Both teams were then tied at 15 three-pointers each entering the fourth quarter as the Nets outscored the Warriors 29-25 in the third quarter. The final tally was 20 three-pointers for the Nets and 19 for the Warriors, with almost half coming from Curry.

Nets coach Jordi Fernández gave time to nine players, and each made at least one of three.

painting night

The Nets, when healthy, are a much longer and taller team than the Warriors. But facing several big men, coach Jordi Fernandez turned to 6-foot-9 forward Ziaire Williams to be his small-ball center and the Warriors took advantage.

And more than his post, players like Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis contributed to the action.

Anytime Andrew Wiggins plays downhill, it’s a positive for the Warriors. In the first two minutes, he made a layup and didn’t shy away from contact. Moses Moody also had several reasons to flex on the Nets.

The 6-foot-2 Gary Payton II showed his uniqueness in many ways. With about four minutes left in the first half, Payton raced down the court after the Nets missed a layup and sealed Cam Thomas (6-foot-4), putting himself in position for a fast-break layup after Brandin Podziemski found it for an easy basket. Later in the first half, Payton threw down a dunk after a Curry miss at three.

The Warriors in the first quarter had eight more points in the paint than the Nets, 12 to 4. At halftime, those numbers increased to 30 points in the paint for the Warriors, 16 more than the Nets’ 14.

In their Saturday night loss against the Spurs, the Warriors feasted in the paint early but settled too often as their lead unraveled. The Warriors scored more than twice as many points as the Nets in the paint, 52 to 34, but other aspects of the game were too much to overcome.

dynamic duo

For over a decade, the combination of Curry and Draymond Green has completely changed the way basketball can be viewed, both offensively and defensively. A sequence in the third quarter showed exactly how.

Roaming as an All-Pro free safety, Green roamed the Nets’ offense before surprising their sensational scorer Cam Thomas. As Thomas ran to take a dribble with the shot clock running down, he thought he would have a chance for a 3-pointer. Green thought otherwise.

The legendary defender jumped the switch, got close to Thomas and forced a deep errant shot from the back of the rim. The ball then bounced to Curry, who took it down the court and let it fly from the left wing, launching a 3-pointer over Thomas and Jalen Wilson.

With a foul on Wilson’s shot, Curry completed the four-point play after celebrating on the court.

Those 30 seconds perfectly show the type of impact that only Curry and Green can have on the game. They will also be forgotten after such an unpleasant loss.

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