The Warriors are still feeling the impact of losing Klay Thompson, who was a key player for over a decade. His role in the team was never going to be easy to replace. Thompson, who formed the famous backcourt duo with Steph Curry, now plays for the Dallas Mavericks. His departure left a noticeable gap, and the team is still adjusting.
The Warriors are learning how difficult it is to replace Thompson, especially with Curry still on the team. In a recent game against the Toronto Raptors, the Warriors lost despite Curry scoring 26 points, grabbing seven rebounds, and dishing out seven assists. Curry is now close to his 37th birthday and is still playing at a high level, but the Warriors are struggling without Thompson.
With Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga out due to injuries, coach Steve Kerr decided to start with a guard-heavy lineup. Andrew Wiggins moved to power forward, and Dennis Schröder joined Curry in the backcourt. Buddy Hield was also brought in to add scoring.
However, Schröder and Hield had a tough time. Together, they scored 20 points on just 8-of-25 shooting, and only 4 of their 16 three-point attempts went in. Both players also turned the ball over twice each.
After the loss, Kerr talked about the team’s strategy to help Curry. He mentioned how they run plays to get other players open when Curry is tightly guarded. Kerr believes setting screens for Curry and moving him around should help free up others, but the team is still adjusting to these changes.
Teams are not intimidated by the Warriors, who are now 19-20, marking their first time under .500 this season after losing to the Raptors.
This loss gave Toronto their ninth win of the season and their fourth win since December 1. The Warriors still have Curry, who is in his 16th season and playing through tendinitis in both knees and a taped-up right thumb.
The 20 points Andrew Wiggins scored on 13 shots didn’t scare anyone. Buddy Hield’s inconsistent shooting won’t stop teams from guarding Curry closely, and Dennis Schröder is still trying to adjust to coach Steve Kerr’s system.
Hield was expected to fill the role Thompson left behind. When the Warriors were 12-3 in their first 15 games, Hield was playing better than Thompson. But since then, his good shooting nights have become rare. The Warriors are 9-0 when he scores 18 or more points, but seven of those wins were early in the season.
The worst moment of Hield’s game came late in the loss to Toronto. With the Warriors ahead by one point, 101-100, and only 1:49 left, Golden State had the ball out of bounds with just 2.4 seconds on the shot clock. Kerr called a good play, where Hield came off a screen and got an open three from the right corner, but the shot missed.
Hield also missed another chance for a game-winning three on their final possession, finishing the game with eight points and missing eight 3-pointers, going 2 of 10.
“He’s had some good looks and he’s a great, great shooter,” Kerr said about Hield. “We know that. I think he’s pressing a little bit. I think all our guys are pressing because they know our margin for error is slim. He’s just pressing. But I trust him.
I put him in for the last play because I always believe he’s going to make the next shot. He gives us spacing, even when he’s not making shots. He gives us spacing. People respect him. They guard him and he opens up the floor. I’m going to keep playing him, I’m going to keep trusting him.”
It’s been a month since the Warriors traded for Schröder, the 12-year veteran guard. He has played in 14 games for the Warriors, who have gone 5-9 in those games.
Before the trade, he was averaging 18.4 points with the Brooklyn Nets, shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 38.7 percent on 3-pointers. But now, he’s averaging 10.1 points per game with 33.8-percent shooting and a 22.5 percent 3-point shooting rate.
Moses Moody played 14 minutes off the bench and scored just one point. He missed all six of his shots, including three 3-pointers, in Toronto. Brandin Podziemski has missed the last nine games because of an abdomen injury, spending that time on the sidelines in sweatpants and a hoodie.
When the Warriors play the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday to finish their four-game road trip, it will be 11 months since the last player to wear No. 11 for Golden State was replaced by Podziemski.
Podziemski, who was picked 19th overall from Santa Clara, was named to the First Team All-Rookie and was expected to be Curry’s new teammate. However, he is currently averaging 8.0 points and a 29.5 3-point shooting percentage in his second season, having played 30 games (eight starts).
De’Anthony Melton was the answer for six games and two starts. He was known for his bold offensive play and strong defense, which made him a good match with Curry. The real disappointment came when Klay Thompson injured his left knee during Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals.
It wasn’t just that Thompson had already scored 30 points in 32 minutes, but also that he had worked hard to defend big guards like James Harden and fast players like Russell Westbrook, earning his first All-Defensive team selection that season.
It’s hard to say how Thompson, who was averaging 14.2 points on 41.3 percent shooting and 38.5 percent on three-pointers, would be performing for the Warriors now. The version of him who disappeared into the fog of the Bay Area on that June night in 2019 is still impossible to replace, and may always remain so.
