{"id":110648,"date":"2024-12-05T07:30:14","date_gmt":"2024-12-05T12:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=110648"},"modified":"2024-12-05T06:42:08","modified_gmt":"2024-12-05T11:42:08","slug":"the-warriors-have-a-fourth-quarter-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/05\/the-warriors-have-a-fourth-quarter-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"The Warriors Have a Fourth Quarter Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following yet another heartbreaking loss\u2014this time to the Denver Nuggets\u2014the Warriors have now dropped five in a row. Despite leading by seven with just 2:30 left to play, and appearing to have the game in hand, the Warriors once again faltered. Tuesday night was yet another disheartening example of the Warriors continuing to display their inability to close. During the Warriors\u2019 five-game losing streak, every game has been within grasp. They\u2019ve lost by no more than 10 during said streak and no more than four in two of those games. In fact, of the Warriors\u2019 eight total losses on the season, only one has been by more than 10.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you’re a glass half-full kind of person, these losses are encouraging because they show that the Warriors can play with anyone. Additionally, due to the randomness of things like luck and chance, one would have to think that some of these close losses will eventually have to start to turn to close wins for the Warriors. If you’re a glass half-empty kind of person however, it’s clear that the Warriors have a pattern of losing close games for a reason. It\u2019s clear that head coach Steve Kerr<\/a> is unable to trot out a consistent reliable closing lineup for a reason. It\u2019s clear that something\u2014anything\u2014needs to change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Warriors Have a Fourth Quarter Problem<\/b><\/h2>\n

Warriors’ Youth vs Experience<\/b><\/h3>\n

Frustration is clearly mounting in Golden State. It\u2019s not all that often that coach Kerr is incensed enough to call out<\/a> one of his own players, but after giving away yet another winnable game, that’s clearly what he felt the need to do. And while Brandin Podziemski<\/a> was the main target of coach Kerr\u2019s brutally honest criticism, it’s safe to assume a similar message could be reiterated to the majority of the young guys. During coach Kerr\u2019s rant, he specifically called out Podziemski\u2019s poor decision-making, citing momentum-killing turnovers and bad fouling. Kerr kept using the word \u2018smart\u2019 in regards to Podziemski\u2014not in the complementary way however. Kerr was adamant that he needs to be play smart.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a reason that coach Kerr continues to trust his veteran players over his young guys in the most intense high pressure moments. There is a reason coach Kerr needs to continue leaning on players like Kyle Anderson<\/a> and Gary Payton<\/a> II over Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga<\/a>. And it’s not because Anderson or Payton are superior athletes or knock down three-point shooters. Guys like Anderson and Payton II are consistently being counted on down the stretch of close games because they understand their role, and they understand time and score\u2014because they are \u2018smart\u2019 players.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Warriors’ Need for a Second Star<\/b><\/h3>\n

The debate rages on, but the Warriors\u2019 need for a legitimate second star looked apparent as ever during their loss to the Nuggets. It’s worth mentioning that Draymond Green<\/a> was unavailable (left calf tightness), but especially during crunch-time, the Warriors\u2019 offense looked predictable and stagnant. It was truly a tough viewing experience to see how desperate the Warriors were to get the ball to Steph Curry<\/a> during their last few possessions. Now granted, any team with an offensive weapon like Curry would be desperate to get him the ball with the game on the line. The degree to which the Warriors were trying\u2014and failing\u2014to get Curry the ball was very telling.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the Nuggets successfully denying Curry the ball, the Warriors\u2019 last two meaningful possessions of the game ended in a very pro-Nuggets manner. First, Kuminga<\/a> drove wildly to the basket only to have his shot blocked by Nikola Jokic<\/a>, who didn\u2019t even have to jump. Next, the Warriors had to settle for a desperation three point attempt by Moses Moody<\/a>. Having Green in the game certainly would\u2019ve helped bring a sense of calm and purpose to the Warriors\u2019 offense during their waning possessions. The fact remains though, Curry needs more offensive help. Unless Curry is able to hit every heavily-contested step-back three-point jumper that he takes, the Warriors\u2019 offense is going to continue to stagnate. A significant move is long overdue, because it’s abundantly clear that the collective firepower of Podziemski, Kuminga, Buddy Hield<\/a>, and Andrew Wiggins<\/a> isn\u2019t cutting it as sufficient offensive help<\/a> for Curry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Last Word<\/b><\/h3>\n

The answer to the Warriors\u2019 fourth quarter struggles is not abundantly clear. It goes without saying that they need their stars to be available. Coach Kerr needs to know that his young guys can be dependable and play smart. More than likely, the Warriors are going to need to nail down a 10-man rotation. The Warriors\u2019 depth is certainly a strength, but managing a 12-man rotation has proven a bit too tedious to build reliable cohesiveness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Between the combined experience of Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney<\/a>, and of course Steve Kerr, the Warriors are surely going to figure this end-of-game conundrum. However, the clock is certainly ticking. Amid a five-game skid, things don’t appear to be getting any easier. The Warriors\u2019 next four games are against the Rockets, the Timberwolves back-to-back, and the Rockets again. To make matters worse, the Warriors have already ruled out<\/a> Curry and Green for their first matchup against the Rockets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following yet another heartbreaking loss\u2014this time to the Denver Nuggets\u2014the Warriors have now dropped five in a row. Despite leading by seven with just 2:30 left to play, and appearing to have the game in hand, the Warriors once again faltered. Tuesday night was yet another disheartening example of the Warriors continuing to display their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5268,"featured_media":110676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,25,3,4721],"tags":[212,48978,256,409,2795,4297,1965,1021,4176,72,48,528],"class_list":["post-110648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-warriors","category-news","category-trade-rumors","tag-andrew-wiggins","tag-brandin-podziemski","tag-buddy-hield","tag-draymond-green","tag-gary-payton-ii","tag-jonathan-kuminga","tag-kevon-looney","tag-kyle-anderson","tag-moses-moody","tag-nikola-jokic","tag-stephen-curry","tag-steve-kerr"],"modified_by":"Kenny Kluska","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110648"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110677,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110648\/revisions\/110677"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}