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The Golden State Warriors have won 16 out of their last 20 games, but they have not been playing all that well of late and it bit them on Saturday in what Draymond Green called a “terrible loss” at Atlanta.
The Warriors, who were playing without Stephen Curry, got down by 17 after the first quarter and were never really able to fight their way back in a 124-115 loss that wasn’t as close as that score indicates.
Curry is sidelined with a with a pelvic contusion after taking a hard fall on his tailbone in Golden State’s three-point win over the Raptors on Thursday. Over Golden State’s last four games, there has only been one good showing — a win over the Bucks without Curry, who at that point was just out for regular rest.
Other than that, they laid an egg against the Nuggets, who were playing without Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Christian Braun, and squeaked past a bad Toronto team before the loss to the Hawks (who, to be fair, have been playing better with six wins in their last eight games).
“It’s a bad loss. A terrible loss,” Green said. “When you’re in a position where you have a chance to compete for something, eleven games left with everything to play for, you shouldn’t have a loss like this. There’s too much on the line. You’ve got to win the games you’re supposed to win. Obviously Steph’s out, but that’s still a game we should win.”
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Green’s right. The Warriors have exactly 11 games left, and with the loss on Saturday they have now effectively dropped back into the play-in. Yes, if you look at the standings on Sunday morning you will see Golden State’s name at No. 6, right above the Clippers, but that’s only because the Warriors have played one more game. The teams are tied in the loss column and the Clippers own the tiebreaker, meaning they control their destiny for the last playoff spot, not the Warriors, who also own just a one-game lead over No. 8 Minnesota.
That’s how huge every game is at this point, and even though the next three look like they should be wins on paper (all on the road against Miami, New Orleans and San Antonio), nothing can be taken for granted without Curry.
There was a theory going around after Curry’s injury that a little downtime could be a blessing in disguise for the Warriors’ superstar, as it could maybe freshen him up going into the playoffs. But they have to make the playoffs first, and they just didn’t give themselves any room for error with the way they played before acquiring Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline, when they were clinging to the final play-in spot. They need Curry back.
He’s set for reevaluation on Monday ahead of Golden State’s game at Miami, which will be Butler’s first game against the Heat after his dramatic exit. The Heat have lost 10 straight, but you can bet they’ll be up for that one. The Warriors better be, too.
