Adejected Stephen Curry still sounded hopeful as he talked about the vibes inside the Golden State Warriors locker room after a players-only meeting and his season-high 38 points could not prevent them from extending their losing woes.
“I still have hope and faith and confidence that we can figure it out,” Curry told reporters after the Warriors lost a 115-113 heartbreaker to the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas. “So, it’s how I’m built.
“And I feel like you go out there and you 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, it’s a team that’s desperate, trying to figure it out. Just hasn’t gone our way. So yeah, until things change, you got to keep that mentality.”
The Warriors held a players-only meeting before the game, ESPN reported, but it hasn’t changed their losing ways.
‘Inflection Point’ for the Warriors
Golden State is cratering to .500 after a strong 12-3 start. The 15-14 Warriors are just half-game ahead of the San Antonio Spurs for the 10th place in the strong Western Conference after their Christmas Day loss.
Their next seven games are against teams with playoff aspirations, starting with a back-to-back matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers on December 27 and the Phoenix Suns on December 28, in which Curry is expected to sit out one of those games for injury management.
“It is an inflection point on obviously which direction our season can go,” Curry told reporters. “Our last 14 games, it’s just been tough trying to find any type of momentum or consistency, and 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 can fall back on, and when you dig yourself a hole like that, sometimes it can be hard to pull out of. So, we’re right in that window where we can still regain some momentum however many weeks before the [All-Star] break is pivotal, or else [we are] in a situation where we’re chasing down the stretch. And nobody wants to be there.”
Warriors’ Interest in Jimmy Butler Shut Down
As the Warriors are searching for answers, one of those possible solutions has been taken out.
Miami Heat president Pat Riley issued a strong statement on the Jimmy Butler trade rumors.
“We usually don’t comment on rumors, but all this speculation has become a distraction to the team and is not fair to the players and coaches. Therefore, we will make it clear – We are not trading Jimmy Butler,” Riley wrote in a statement on December 26.
The Warriors sit atop Butler’s short list of preferred win-now destinations, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported.
A proven playoff performer and a strong two-way star, Butler could help the Warriors extend Curry’s rapidly closing championship window.
In the absence of a star trade, Curry and the Warriors might have to do with their deep roster lacking in star power besides him.
“So we’re trying to find that balance,” Curry told reporters. “We talk about it all the time. Coaches have been talking about it for the last week like it’s the puzzle we have to solve and I have to solve.”
