The Golden State Warriors appear to have discovered their early-season kryptonite, as the Los Angeles Clippers appear to have their number this season. On Monday night, the Warriors’ late rally fell short in a 102-99 defeat on the road, with the Dubs missing two golden opportunities to tie the game in the end after an incredible on-ball snatch from Gary Payton II.
However, the Warriors have no one to blame but themselves for being in the position of having to make a comeback in the first place. The 19 turnovers on the night didn’t help matters whatsoever, but it’s downright infuriating for a Warriors team that prioritizes outside marksmanship to end up 9-19 as a team from the foul line — even making 13-19 would have given them the win, and that’s not even a high standard to reach.
The Warriors’ brutal night on the charity stripe on Monday brought down their overall percentage as a team this season to 69.7 percent, which is dead-last in the association. If the Dubs simply shot their regular percentage on the year against the Clippers, then they would have won.
“Yeah, the free throws obviously hurt us. … We got to work on it obviously. Our guys have to get in the gym, find in a rhythm, find their confidence from the line for sure,” Kerr said in his postgame presser, via Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
Kerr also mentioned that it wasn’t until Monday night that the Warriors’ woes from the free-throw line this season have come back to bite them. On the year, even after their loss to the Clippers, the Dubs still own a very impressive 10-3 record in the early goings, which is still good for second-best in the ever-competitive Western Conference.
Last year, the Warriors made 78 percent of their freebies, which ranked 17th in the league. That should be a realistic target for them moving forward. At the very least, the likes of Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, and Brandin Podziemski are now on notice and they better get to practicing their free throws as soon as they can.
Warriors need their three-point prowess to translate to the free-throw line
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The Warriors rank second in the NBA both in three-pointers made per game (16.3) as well as three-point percentage (39 percent) this season. Obviously, having the greatest shooter of all-time in Stephen Curry leading the way always helps, but the likes of Buddy Hield, Moses Moody, and Lindy Waters III have been lights out from beyond the arc this year as well. Even Draymond Green is shooting a scorching hot 46.3 percent from three so far.
Alas, nine of their 10-highest volume free-throw shooters have been middling at best this season in terms of accuracy from the charity stripe. In that top 10, only Curry is shooting better than 72.3 percent from the line, with Jonathan Kuminga being the biggest offender with his 60.7 percent accuracy on a team-high 56 total free-throw attempts this season.
There is room for positive regression at least; Kuminga shot 74.6 percent from the line last year, after all. But this weakness of theirs may end up haunting them all year long if they don’t put the work in immediately.
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