Do the Dubs have enough guards to keep up tonight with Harden and Co.?
The Golden State Warriors are fighting to end their year on a solid note after a heartbreaking Christmas Day loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. They’ll have a chance to have a better showing against the other L.A. team today as they head to SoCal to face another Pacific Division rival in the Clippers.
The Dubs are 15-14 right now, losers of 7 of their last 10. All the good vibes from their hot start are evaporating away like steam on a mug of hot chocolate in the freezing winter There’s no time like the present to figure out something that works, as they battle the 17-13 Clippers with a chance to gain some ground in the division and in the Western Conference.
The last time these two teams battled, it came down to the wire with the Clippers taking a 102-99 victory.
And this time the Dubs will have to take on the Clips without their best player, as Stephen Curry will be sitting this contest out. And if that doesn’t hurt enough, they’ll also have to deal with the absence of fellow guard Gary Payton II who was injured on Christmas.
That detracts from the team’s offensive firepower with Curry’s pyrotechnics and on the defensive end with GP2’s disruptive physicality. This is the type of game where Draymond Green and Dennis Schroder have to bring some veteran savvy and leadership to buoy a young team still figuring out it’s identity.
Jonathan Kuminga will have to be huge on both ends of the floor to mitigate what’s been lost due to injury absence. I’m all for giving the fourth year man several opportunities to find his flow and work on his game, even if that means suffering from some mistakes. The Dubs have to accelerate through these growing paints as soon as possible, otherwise they’ll remain caught in the tide between competitive and developing.
