A 5-1 start to the year had fans dreaming about a potential fifth championship of the Steph Curry era, and the first since the dramatic acquisition of longtime rival Chris Paul over the summer.
But the warning signs were already there to see.
The Dubs fell at home on opening night to the Phoenix Suns, the only serious contender they faced in their opening six matches.
They scraped by the youthful Rockets and needed last-second game-winners to get by the Kings and Thunder, who were both missing their All-NBA guards in De’Aaron Fox and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Since then, it’s all been downhill for Steve Kerr’s men, with defeats to Denver, Minnesota and Cleveland (twice).
What exactly is going wrong for the Warriors?
The main issue is obvious: no one apart from a certain Steph Curry is getting the ball in the basket.
The two-time MVP has been in sparkling form to start the season, leading the scoring in all eleven of the Warriors’ matches so far and averaging an impressive 30.7 points per game.
But the 35-year-old has received no help from his teammates on the offensive end. Remarkably, only one other Golden State player has scored 20 points in any game so far -- Croatian big Dario Saric.
Curry’s Splash Brother Klay Thompson has made it clear he is determined to be an All-Star again, but he won’t be getting there anytime soon if he continues to average 16 points on 35% shooting from 3-point range and a ghastly 42% from the field.
Worst of all has been the form of Andrew Wiggins.
The Canadian forward, so instrumental to Golden State’s 2022 championship team, missed 45 games last season due to a combination of injuries and personal reasons.
Unfortunately for the Dubs, he is clearly still some way off his best, posting a miserly 10.5 points on 15% shooting from three and 50% from the line.
Wiggins and Thompson’s decline has caused major issues for the Warriors’ first team, which dominated opponents last season. Their star defensive duo of Draymond Green and Kevon Looney have always lacked a scoring punch, and with only Curry providing offense, the starting unit has been dreadful together so far.
The biggest bright spot for the Warriors -- Curry’s incredible form aside -- has been the bench, led by the 38-year-old Chris Paul.
The second unit (formed of Paul, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Gary Payton II and Dario Saric) has looked exciting at times, providing defensive intensity and speed in transition.
Yet problems remain here too.
Yes, the Warriors bench is averaging 41.1 points per game, good enough for sixth in the league. That’s no great surprise, though, given the heavy minutes the reserves are playing with Steve Kerr determined to preserve Curry, Thompson and Green for the playoffs.
CP3’s impressive assist-to-turnover ratio, at 6.67, is proof of his enduring ability to run an NBA offense. On the other hand, his scoring touch seems to have deserted him: his current clip of 8.2 points per game, on 36.8% shooting from the field, is a career low.
Third-year wing Kuminga has been erratic, even if his free-throw shooting has improved, while Moody, Saric and Payton are all hovering around 35% on three-pointers.
And although rookies Trayce Jackson-Davis and Brandin Podziemski have shown some promise, it’s surely too soon to rely on them for solutions to the Warriors’ scoring woes.
The Golden State defense has also been a concern, despite Draymond Green looking back to his brilliant best.
As always, the question is: are the Warriors just too small?
Kevon Looney has built up his reputation as one of the league’s top rebounders over the past couple of seasons, but he remains under-sized for a center at 6’9”, and Dario Saric has never been known for his rim protection.
Chris Paul might be third on the all-time steals list, but it will be tough for Steve Kerr to play him alongside Steph Curry in the fourth quarter, especially with Klay Thompson’s efforts to defend power forwards proving a mixed bag so far.
The biggest issue has been on-ball defense. Although GPII has been collecting steals and deflections for fun, Andrew Wiggins has looked a shell of the man who locked up Ja Morant, Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum in the 2022 playoffs.
The Warriors’ lack of height was in evidence against Cleveland, with their twin towers Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley causing the Dubs serious damage inside.
And it was the same story on Saturday, as Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns dominated the frontcourt.
Can the Warriors fix their defensive issues and get back on track?
They’ve got Minnesota to come again on Tuesday night, so you might not want to bet on it happening too quickly.
With Curry likely out with a sore knee, they’ll also need to find some offensive firepower from somewhere.
Otherwise, it’ll be a 6-6 start to the season ... and that is simply not a title-winning record.
