Warriors starters fail to hit a 3-pointer in ugly loss to Rockets in Draymond Green's return
Draymond Green returned to the Golden State Warriors lineup Thursday after serving a one-game suspension for his confrontation with Kevin Durant.
Something wasn’t right with the team.
Golden State had a dreadful shooting night in a 107-86 loss to the Houston Rockets that will surely raise questions about their collective mindset in the aftermath of the internal drama.
Warriors starters go cold from distance
No Warriors starter hit a 3-pointer on the night, a first for Golden State since March of 2013, according to TNT.
Stephen Curry was sidelined with a lingering groin injury, but Green, Durant and Klay Thompson combined to shoot 0-for-9 from distance while Andre Iguodala and Damian Jones did not attempt a 3-pointer.
Draymond Green doesn’t score
The Warriors shot 42.1 percent from the field and hit 4-of-18 (22.2 percent) 3-pointers on the night. Durant led the way with 20 points while Thompson was the only other starter in double figures with 10. Green did not score.
Head coach Steve Kerr addressed the team’s struggles after the game.
“We’re banged up a little bit physically, and right now we’re banged up spiritually,” Kerr said. “There is no getting around that. So we’ve got to fill up our cup and get our spirit back, our energy back. And we’re going to. It’s a long, long season.”
Durant took a less tactful approach, appearing to have lost his patience with the whole ordeal.
Kevin Durant hit with one Draymond relationship question postgame: “Don’t ask me about that again.” pic.twitter.com/OvukBOwvbI
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 16, 2018
“Don’t ask me about that again,” Durant said when asked about his relationship with Green
Chris Paul talks Carmelo Anthony
For the Rockets, it was a big win in the aftermath of their own team drama. The brief Carmelo Anthony era came to an official end on Thursday ahead of the matchup with Golden State.
“It’s tough,” Rockets point guard Chris Paul told TNT of losing Anthony. “Some guys in the league are your teammates. Melo’s my family.”
The Rockets got a balanced effort with James Harden leading the way with 27 points, three rebounds and three assists. Clint Capela added 10 points and 10 rebounds while Paul tallied 10 points, seven assists and five rebounds.
The Warriors got off to a slow start, scoring 19 points in the first quarter. They never found a groove, failing to score more than 23 points in a quarter the entire game. They entered the game ranked second in the NBA in scoring with 120.7 points per game.
Late Rockets run closed the deal
Despite their shooting struggles, the Warriors kept within shouting distance until getting burned on a 21-0 Rockets run in the fourth quarter that put the game out of reach. When Thompson hit a layup with 11:17 remaining, Houston led, 76-65. When Eric Gordon hit a 3-pointer for the Rockets with 6:06 remaining, Houston led 97-65, and the game was well out of hand.
It was the first of four scheduled matchups this season between the two teams that met in the Western Conference Finals last season.
A season that was assumed a march to another championship for the Warriors has suddenly become much more interesting.
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