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The Golden State Warriors as a whole should have been marked as “DNP” because despite showing up to Oracle in uniform, they did not come to play at all.
Milwaukee used their length to disrupt the Warriors’ offense and imposed their will on defense, scoring 28 points off of the Warriors’ 18 turnovers. The Bucks smothering defense specifically in the paint made Stephen Curry and to a lesser extent, Kevin Durant think twice about driving the lane.
Speaking of the duo, they shot a combined 11-for-29 from the field. While both struggled with their shots, it was Curry who struggled the most. After a second foul in the first quarter sent Curry to the bench, he was more tentative upon his return and continued to struggle on an off night shooting until a groin injury in the third took him out of the game for good.
The most shameful stat of the night is the Bucks scoring 84 points in the paint. Now, I’ve wondered why Kerr had Jordan Bell in the doghouse. I even started a convo on Twitter about it.
So #DubNation What can Bell do to earn back into the rotation? Is the reason why he’s out mainly because of matchups? Because of Kerr? or is it self inflicted?
— Jannelle Moore (@Jannelle12) November 6, 2018
Well tonight, I got my answer. Saying that Bell was ineffective is much too kind.
Starting Bell with Jones was not the move that head coach Steve Kerr should have made. Granted, Draymond Green was out but judging from tonights effort, Kerr was better off starting Andre Iguodala at the four. Why? Because Bell is just athletic and that’s all. He is undisciplined on defense, and too eager to block. He doesn’t have a reliable jumper. All he has is his vertical, which is worthless if he can't closeout properly and stay out of foul trouble.
After the game, Kerr said that the team came out with “mindless intent.”
Steve Kerr w/strong words postgame saying #Warriors came out with “mindless intent.”
— John Dickinson (@JDJohnDickinson) November 9, 2018
Kerr added, “sometimes you’ve got to get hit in mouth in this league to remind you how hard it is to win a game.”
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Well, mindless intentions begets a mindless beat down.
Curry will have an MRI on Friday to determine the extent of his groin injury and next up the Warriors will host the Brooklyn Nets Saturday at 7:30.