National Basketball Association

Can the Warriors overcome their 'disconnect' and win another title?

Published Mar. 8, 2023 1:47 p.m. ET

Steph Curry might be back in the Golden State Warriors' lineup, but their road issues remain.

The Warriors fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder 137-128 despite a 40-point performance from their superstar, dropping to 34-32 on the season as they look to avoid falling into the play-in tournament.

Possibly the most alarming thing to come out of Tuesday's loss for the Warriors was a play late in the first half in which Draymond Green gave up on an offensive possession when Jordan Poole didn't pass him the ball. When Klay Thompson passed Green the ball, the forward was walking toward the sideline, leading to a turnover and Green remained on the opposite end of the court.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said his team was "a little disconnected" in the first half when asked about the play following the game.

As Kerr classified Green's first-half blunder as little, Skip Bayless believes it's a sign of a bigger concern surrounding the Warriors after Green struck Poole in the face in a preseason practice.

"Speaking of clouds hanging over a team, I believe that cloud is still hanging over that team because they had the best culture in all of basketball," Bayless said on Wednesday's "Undisputed." "Now, they've got a very questionable culture. See their road record, they're now 7-25. They're not hanging together and are under fire on the road.

"This was exhibit A because the engine of this train, Draymond, coughed and sputtered when Jordan Poole didn't pass him the basketball. The ball went the other way and he walked toward the bench. He didn't quit on the game, but he quit on the play."

Shannon Sharpe agreed with Bayless' thoughts on Green.

"It's not a good look for the players involved," Sharpe said. "It's also not a good look for Draymond. He's the pulse. He's the heartbeat of that team. He's supposed to be the glue, he's supposed to be the cohesion fo that keeps everything together. … You're supposed to bring everyone together. You can't have a play like that."

As Bayless and Sharpe mentioned, Green has commonly been viewed as the engine of the Warriors and in particular, their defense. The former defensive player of the year has helped the Warriors rank in the top five in defensive rating in six of the last eight seasons, including the best defensive rating last season.

This season, the Warriors rank 16th in defensive rating (114.3) and 24th in points allowed per game (117.4).

Obviously, the Warriors' defensive struggles continued Tuesday as they allowed 133 points, and seven of the nine Thunder players that played scored double-figures. Bayless said that Curry's stellar offensive performance won't matter when their defense gets "shellacked."

"They don't play any defense anymore," Bayless said. "They used to be the best defense and now they're in the 20s. That's all you need to know. That's why they're 7-25 on the road.

"How many times back in the day did teams say, ‘Oh boy, we’re in for it tonight,' when Steph showed up? They used to be even better on the road, especially Steph because he loved to shut a road crowd up. He was trying his best to do that last night with 40 points and it didn't matter."

While some NBA analysts believe that the Warriors can still make a run to win their fifth title in the last nine years (they hold the fifth-best odds on FOX Bet), Bayless doesn't see it happening for them this season.

"I would be shocked. Right now, I would be shocked," Bayless said of the Warriors' title chances. "I know Steph's been out for a while and they had a little three-game winning streak featuring Klay. I just don't like the way they play defense and I don't like their fractured culture anymore. … How many championship teams have a key player walk to the sideline because they didn't get the ball?

"It's such a bad sign."

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