Steve Kerr wants to let his team work through issues on its own.
He wants to trust that the Golden State Warriors’ past success will allow them to find a groove this season.
But as an uneven start continues, the Warriors’ coach said he might need to start adjusting to try to shake his team from its recent malaise.
Though the Warriors are coming off a 110-106 win over Portland on Wednesday, they’re 5-10 since Nov. 5 heading into Friday night’s matchup with the host Oklahoma City Thunder.
“I’ve really been patient and hoping to get our starting unity from the last couple years into a good groove,” Kerr said. “It’s easier to play and to coach when everybody knows exactly where they fit in. And role players, it’s easier to play a role when there is a set rotation and the stars are playing well so the puzzle fits.”
While starters Draymond Green (five games, suspension) and Andrew Wiggins (two games due to right finger soreness) have missed time recently, Golden State’s typical starting five of those two plus Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevon Looney have struggled when they have been together.
“The puzzle hasn’t fit this year,” Kerr said. “We’ve had a lot of guys playing well, but we may have to think about moving the starting lineup around from game to game depending on who we are facing.
“I’d still prefer to get something solid, but we haven’t established anything this year. We’re a quarter of the way through, so there is a lot of thought that has to go into this.”
While the Warriors haven’t found stability, the Thunder have plenty.
Oklahoma City is coming off a 110-101 road loss to Houston on Wednesday but has won two of its last three games and eight of its last 11.
One of the outliers, though, is third-year guard Josh Giddey.
Giddey is averaging a career-low 11.8 points per game and shooting 42 percent from the field after averaging 16.6 points and shooting 48.2 from the field a year ago.
However, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said Giddey has improved over last season.
“He’s struggled obviously from an efficiency standpoint, but it’s not an indictment on him as a player — if anything, he’s a better player,” Daigneault said. “He can turn these struggles with the efficiency into future growth if he interacts with those the right way, and I have no doubt that he will.”
Giddey, who is at the center of an NBA and police investigation into an alleged relationship with a minor, was just 3 of 11 from the floor with eight points in Wednesday’s loss.
Giddey is shooting better than 50 percent from the floor against the Warriors this season.
Friday’s game will be the fourth and final meeting this season between the Warriors and Thunder. The game was added to the schedule after neither team qualified for the knockout rounds of the NBA in-season tournament.
The Thunder have won two of three from Golden State this season, including a 130-123 overtime win in their most recent meeting, Nov. 18 in San Francisco.
An Oklahoma City win would give the Thunder their first season-series victory over the Warriors since the 2019-20 campaign.
–Field Level Media