This season has been an odd one for the Golden State Warriors. After winning the NBA Championship last season, they have struggled so far this year and are currently in the midst of the Play-In Tournament race. Injuries have hurt them, but they were floundering a bit even before their ailments.
One area where they have struggled, in particular, has been on the road. Golden State is currently 3-16 on the road, which is the worst mark in the NBA. However, they won their most recent road game against the San Antonio Spurs, which took place in the Alamodome in front of 64,00 people – the largest crowd in NBA history.
Stephen Curry mocked the Warriors, noting that it took that many people to get a good road showing out of them.
“It was special from the jump,” Curry told NBC Sports Bay Area, reflecting on what it was like playing in the Alamodome. “Like, the long walk from the tunnel to get out to the court, the fans kind of lining the route to get out there, and then, just the vantage point. We came for practice yesterday, and you can feel how big the dome is. And there was excitement about what it would feel like with many people, and it delivered. It was awesome from the start. It was cool to see them recognize their 50-year history and all the great moments that have gone into this organization. The successes and championships that they’ve had. And you know, the greats that were in the building, Dave Robinson, Manu [Ginobili], Tony Parker, Avery Bradley, I mean Avery Johnson, sorry. It was awesome to experience. And, you know, takes 64,000 to bring our best road performance of the year.”
Curry ended the night with 15 points, four rebounds, and three assists on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and 2-of-7 shooting from three-point range in the 144-113 Warriors victory.
While their road struggles have been one of the main talking points this season for the Warriors, they are also dealing with some other issues – one of which being their lackluster frontcourt depth behind Draymond Green and Kevon Looney.
Head coach Steve Kerr recently told NBC Sports Bay Area that he’s concerned with the number of minutes Green and Looney have been playing this season.
“I’m concerned about Draymond and Loon right now,” Kerr said. “They’ve been playing such heavy minutes with the number of bigs who have been out over the last few weeks.”
I want to see Kevon Looney run one fake DHO per game like Draymond pic.twitter.com/vVh6A286Aa
— Charlie Cummings (@klaytheist11) January 4, 2023
This falls in line with the recent report from Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. He noted that Golden State is going to look to add two things at the trade deadline this year – shooting and size.
“With the NBA trade deadline precisely 30 days away, the Warriors are active in the market, according to league sources,” Poole wrote. “Though nothing is said to be imminent – the front office is more concerned with getting Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins back to speed – there is a desire to add size and shooting.”
Golden State’s younger players, such as James Wiseman and Moses Moody, haven’t panned out as well as they might have liked, so they could be the first assets thrown into trade rumors.