Warriors at ‘inflection point’ after Christmas Day loss

SAN FRANCISCO — About 90 minutes before the Warriors’ Christmas Day game against the Lakers, Steph Curry addressed his team.

This season can go one way or another, he told them. The message was brief, only two or three minutes. They’d lost 10 of 13 entering the Lakers matchup, sinking from 12-3 to 15-13. They didn’t quite need a players-only meeting, but Curry decided it was time to at least speak up.

“It is an inflection point on obviously which direction our season can go,” Curry said at the postgame podium.

“Thirty games in, you’re one game above .500. You need some context on how you got there. I think our last 14 games, it’s just been tough. Trying to find any type of momentum or consistency. Through that, you just can’t lose spirit and belief that we’re a good enough team to figure it out. Because this league is ruthless, this league changes from window to window of what you’ve got to fall back on. When you dig yourself a hole like that, sometimes it can be hard to pull out of. We’re right in that window where we can still regain some momentum. These next however many weeks before the break are pivotal. Or else we’ll be in a situation where we’re chasing down the stretch, and nobody wants to do that.”

Curry has always chosen his words carefully with the media, but it seems like he’s been more pointed this season than in years past. At media day, he said he was confident that the Warriors can be “relevant” early. Recently, he said that if the team’s string of late-game offensive failures continues, they’ll be a “mediocre” team.

Taking time to address his teammates is far from unprecedented, but it is noteworthy from Curry. He often uses the word “urgency,” and this was another way to try to evoke more of it.

Golden State played with ample effort on Christmas Day, but couldn’t beat the Lakers even after Anthony Davis exited seven minutes into the game. Curry scored the Warriors’ last eight points, including two ridiculous 3-pointers to tie the game late, but Austin Reaves beat Andrew Wiggins off the dribble and Jonathan Kuminga didn’t rotate as the help defender, allowing Reaves to bank in the game-winner. 

Curry scored a season-high 38 points in the loss. He has had two stinkers recently, but unimpeachably  remains one of the best players in the league.

And he’s always been a revered leader in his own right.

“When Steph talks, he talks at the right moment,” Andrew Wiggins said. “It was needed. The message was clear. That’s the leader here. We go where Steph goes. Definitely needed. Motivational. I think it’ll be the start of something good for us.”

The start of something good will have to begin after Christmas. Golden State has games against the Clippers, Suns, Cavaliers, Grizzlies and 76ers — who just beat the Celtics — upcoming. Their schedule has been unrelenting and doesn’t let up immediately.

In their 3-11 skid, the Warriors have proven that they’re not solid enough to overlook any opponent. They’ve lost to the Nets, Spurs, Pacers and now the Lakers without Davis or D’Angelo Russell.

“We’re down,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “Everybody’s disappointed. We’ve lost some confidence, you can feel it. We had a great vibe early in the season and we’re going through it now. I love our guys. High-character guys. They care about the game. They care about each other. I believe in them, I believe we’re going to get this thing turned around.”

Curry has a similar belief. The Lakers loss, while a gut punch, was a nice reminder that he can still ramp it up and take over a game in crunch time, like he did consistently during the 12-3 start.

Perhaps the biggest source of optimism for the Warriors should be the status of the Western Conference. They’re currently the 10-seed, but they’re 1.5 games back of fifth place. The Thunder, Rockets and Grizzlies have separated themselves at the top of the West. The Mavericks were right there, but on Christmas lost Luka Doncic to a calf strain.

The rest of the conference is up for grabs. The Warriors are certainly a candidate to snatch a real seed. Or they could keep tumbling and spiral toward the lottery.

The season can go one way or another.

“I still have hope, faith and confidence that we can figure it out,” Curry said. “That’s how I’m built. I feel like we can go out there and talk about it, but how you execute, how you show up on a nightly basis — the effort we’re giving, even considering what our record’s been over the last stretch — is a team that’s desperate, trying to figure it out. It just hasn’t gone our way. Until things change, you have to keep that mentality.”