Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry was blunt about the state of the team following Wednesday’s 130-125 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
“We’re very average,” he told reporters. “Very average doesn’t get it done in this league. We need to make a run, hopefully, we bounce back tomorrow and after the All-Star break hit a stride where we win every game [at home] and steal a few on the road.”
General manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. seemed to agree with Curry’s assessment ahead of the trade deadline. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne reported Wednesday the team made an audacious swoop for Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.
The Clippers game was a microcosm of the Warriors’ present state. Curry’s 41 points and a Chase Center crowd weren’t enough for them to avoid blowing a 15-point lead.
Golden State was outscored 44-28 in the fourth quarter, which included the Clippers dropping 19 points in the final four minutes.
Brandin Podziemski said, “it kind of felt like we stopped playing and kind of felt sorry for ourselves.”
To Curry’s point, the Warriors are a decidedly average team. In addition to their .500 overall record, they’re 13th in net rating (plus-1.3), per NBA.com, and they’re 11-23 against teams with at or above .500. They’ve feasted on losing teams to the tune of a 15-3 mark.
The aura Golden State once possessed in its pomp is long gone as well. As recently as last year, Chase Center remained a formidable setting for opposing teams. The 2022 champions were 33-8 at home as they attempted to defend their title.
That fear factor simply isn’t there anymore.