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With multiple players out due to injury, it felt like the Golden State Warriors would truly need a little of that highly-publicized luck to escape Dallas with a win tonight.
2015 NBA MVP Stephen Curry and Festus Ezeli joined Leandro Barbosa and Harrison Barnes on the Warriors' injured list for tonight's game against the Dallas Mavericks leaving the Warriors not only without their superstar but also without a large part of their rotation.
Shaun Livingston started the game for Curry and the Warriors were looking to exploit his height advantage over defender J.J. Barea. Although the Warriors began the game admirably going up against a well-coached Mavericks team that has surprised most people by playing their way into fifth place early in the season, the Warriors just didn't have enough firepower to compete consistently and ultimately lost 114-91.
Yet as much as we all could've predicted, or maybe just accepted, a loss before the game, what was probably most disappointing was the team's effort. They looked slow to react and rotate on defense, leaving Mavs players feet of space to shoot from beyond the arc; they looked hesitant on offense, with their All-Star candidates struggling to find any sort of rhythm. By the time they finally seemed to wake up, whether due to pride or reduced resistance, they were already down more than 25 points in the third quarter.
So, take something from this if you must, but this team tonight didn't even resemble the team that got off to a record start this season. Kudos to Ian Clark who had a career-high 21 points though.
Next up for the Warriors is the Houston Rockets, who are still trying to find their rhythm after struggling to find the .500 mark to start this season. Rockets star James Harden is still struggling to keep the Warriors' name out of his mouth; Ethan Rothstein of The Dream Shake identifies Harden as "the Rockets' core problem".
So let's hope tomorrow night is more fun.