Warriors look disjointed, plus more takeaways from 110-102 loss to Grizzlies

Despite having 12 players for the first time since opening week, the Golden State Warriors struggled to find their rhythm on Monday.

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SAN FRANCISCO — With more players available than they’ve had in several weeks and a win in the rearview mirror, the Warriors had reasons to be encouraged entering their first home game in more than 10 days.

However, the Warriors (5-20) turned in a disjointed and discouraging performance Monday night, falling to the Grizzlies 110-102 at Chase Center.

With 12 players available for the first time since the opening week of the season, the Warriors struggled to find their rhythm. Offensively, they committed 15 turnovers, including 10 in the first half. Defensively, they unraveled late. Overall, there were a lot of off-target passes, frustrated pointing and missed rotations.

“I thought the energy was pretty good early, but the execution was really poor. We turned it over a lot early in the game, and then we had some shot turnovers — really bad field goal attempts that might as well be turnovers,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “Really disappointing game.”

Coming off a two-point win in Chicago on Friday, the Warriors fell into an early 14-point deficit before point guard D’Angelo Russell’s contested corner 3-pointer cut the Grizzlies’ lead to single digits at the end of the first quarter. While Russell made the shot, the Warriors were forced into similarly tough looks most of the night, and shot only 38% overall.

“It is discouraging. We felt pretty good coming off that road trip with a win and felt like we could carry forward with another win tonight,” Kerr said. “But we did not bring our best stuff. So, disappointed.”

Since Russell’s return, the Warriors have mostly used him in an off-ball roll with forward Draymond Green running the offense. It’s much different than the pick-and-roll-leaning scheme Russell led prior to missing nine games with a thumb injury, and it’s been an adjustment for all parties. Russell, who has struggled to shoot the ball since coming back, went 6-for-22 for 18 points Monday.

The Warriors’ best moments came in transition, as Russell located Green on a pair of drives in the second quarter: A kick-ahead on a fast break and then a no-look pass that led to a Green dunk, the last of which cut the Grizzlies’ lead to three with less than five minutes to play in the first half.

Oh man, this pass from D-Lo was sweet pic.twitter.com/x0zeS6AWSN

— Chris Montano (@gswchris) December 10, 2019

However, Memphis (7-16) pulled away in the third quarter, when they used a 13-1 run midway through the period to extend their lead to double digits. They maintained that lead the rest of the way.

After shooting just 41.9% in the first half, the Grizzlies ended up shooting 50% overall, and scored 22 points off Warriors turnovers in the game. The Warriors are now 0-8 this season when they’ve allowed their opponent to make at least half of their shots. Alec Burks’ free throws cut the Grizzlies’ lead to six with 1:32 left, but rookie point guard Ja Morant’s dunk ended a 6-0 run.

“Honestly, I think we just [expletive] around with the game,” Green said. “We’re not good enough to do that.”

The Warriors shot just 38% in the game, and were led by Burks’ 18 points on 4-of-9 shooting (8-of-8 from the free-throw line). Green had 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting, five assists and three rebounds. Center Willie Cauley-Stein finished with 17 points and eight rebounds. In his first appearance since missing 21 games with an adductor strain in his left hip, Evans recorded 2 points on 1-of-4 shooting in 11 minutes.

“It’s kind of hard for us to have a disappointing loss at this point, but this was definitely one of them,” Green said. “We played pretty horrible the entire game and, yet, was in the game pretty much the entire game. So, it was definitely disappointing.”

A few more thoughts…

1. Russell has had a hard time finding his touch since returning from a right thumb sprain. In the last three games, he’s combined to make 15 of 44 shots (34%) for 43 points.

“He’s just got to find it,” Kerr said. “There’s things we can do here and there, plays we can run. But, coming back off of a hand injury is never easy as a shooter. You’re trying to find the rhythm, find the feel. He’ll find it, but it’s taking a little bit of time.”

The Warriors have scrapped the pick-and-roll offense, forcing Russell to get accustomed to Kerr’s motion scheme. Playing off the ball a lot more, it will take some getting used to, but it’s something the Warriors have to do. Stephen Curry or no Stephen Curry, if Russell is to be part of the team in the future, he’ll need to know how to play off the ball.

“We help where we can,” Green said. “But, at the end of the day, he’s a scorer, and he’ll figure it out.”

2. Monday’s game featured two players in the thick of the rookie of the year race — forward Eric Paschall and Morant.

Entering the night, Morant ranked first among rookies in points per game (18.6) and assists per game (6.4), while Paschall ranked second in points per game (17.1) and third in rebounds per game (5.3).

On Monday, Morant finished with 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting and seven assists, while Paschall made just 2 of 10 shots for five points and had two rebounds and zero assists. For the moment, advantage: Morant.

3. As the Warriors get more players back, those players have been met, initially, with minutes restrictions. Evans played 11 minutes and center Kevon Looney logged 10.

Russell and Green both went north of 30 minutes for the first time since returning from their respective injuries. According to Kerr, that could be a pattern going forward.

4. Like Draymond Green seven years ago, Paschall entered the NBA with an ambiguous position. At 6-foot-6, 250 pounds, is he a 3? A 4? With a shorthanded roster, Kerr has been starting both Paschall and Green at the forward positions, but Green is encouraging Paschall to learn all five positions.

“One thing I’ve been trying to get him to do is learn all the positions,” Green said after Monday morning’s shoot-around. “When you can learn all five positions, it just helps you create more value.

“For a player like (Eric), at such an early point in his career, if he can master learning all five positions, with his versatility, that just continues to add to the value that he’s creating for himself.”

Despite being two of the Warriors’ most reliable players this season, when Green and Paschall share the court, the Warriors have been out-scored 9.5 points per 100 possessions, and have an offensive rating of 99.8. It’s difficult to generate spacing and scoring with those two on the floor, who are shooting a combined 29% from 3-point range.

On Monday, the Warriors shot just 36.1% and were outscored by nine points in 19 minutes when Green and Paschall shared the court. Figuring out the Green and Paschall fit isn’t the biggest obstacle the Warriors face, but it’s something worth monitoring as Kerr continues to experiment with different lineup combinations.