The Warriors’ Draymond Green is 6-foot-6 with a 7-foot-1 wingspan. The Hornets’ Terry Rozier? He’s 6-foot-2, with a 6-foot-8 wingspan. Line those two up for a jump ball in an NBA game and Green should win the tip every time.
Should. But in a critical spot during Sunday’s game against the Hornets, Green lost out on a tip to Rozier. At the time, Green (with Andre Iguodala) had forced the jump ball by trapping Rozier with 15.3 seconds to go and the Warriors down in what had been a sloppy game, 104-102. Rozier got the ball to teammate Jalen McDaniels, who got it back to Rozier, forcing the Warriors to foul.
Rozier made both shots and sealed the win, just the second loss of the season for Golden State and their first road loss.
Green, after the game, laid the blame on crew chief David Guthrie, who, he said, had not indicated he was about to throw the ball up, allowing Rozier to beat Green to the punch.
“He was still talking,” Green said. “I am sitting there looking at him and went, ‘Oh sh**.’ But it is what it is. I’ve got to get the tip. Life goes on.”
Warriors ‘Never Got Any Traction’ vs. Hornets: Kerr
The fact that the Warriors had a chance to win at all in the game was surprising, given how poorly they played from start to finish. The Warriors shot 42.2% from the field, their worst night of the year, and made only nine of 39 3-pointers—that, too, was a season-worst.
Meanwhile, the Dubs allowed Charlotte to shoot 47.7% from the field, the second-worst defensive field-goal percentage the Warriors have allowed this season.
“Never got any traction in the game whatsoever,” coach Steve Kerr said. “Never made a stand defensively and never got any rhythm offensively, so they just outplayed us. They held us to 14 (points) in the fourth quarter and made 14 3s, they were the better team. I thought our shot selection was really poor. I thought we got really rushed. I didn’t feel like we had the same spacing and trust in terms of moving the ball.”
Steph Curry’s Hot Streak Ends in Homecoming
It was a rough night, too, for Warriors star Stephen Curry, who was coming off a three-game run in which he scored an average of 38.3 points and shot 54.4% from the field. He did not have it on Sunday in Charlotte, though, going 7-for-22 from the field and 3-for-13 from the 3-point line.
“Not his best game, obviously,” Kerr said. “He struggled from the floor. He fought and competed like crazy but 3-for-13 from the 3-point line, I thought he took a lot of difficult ones. He never found the rhythm but a lot of that was our offense.”
At least Curry was able to play in Charlotte, which is where his father, Dell Curry, spent the bulk of his NBA career and where Steph Curry grew up.
“It’s a one-time deal, once a year we get to come back here,” Kerr said. “Last year, he was sick and wasn’t able to play so that was usually disappointing and really difficult for him to sit up. So glad he’s ready to roll this time around.”
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