Dennis Schröder’s first points in his Warriors debut Thursday night were a clear example of why general manager Mike Dunleavy didn’t waste any time, going out and acquiring the veteran guard at the first moment he could. The speedy guard beat Ja Morant to the spot he was focused on, pulled up and nailed a 12-foot mid-range jumper.
Schröder gets his first Warriors points 👏 pic.twitter.com/OLq2AjJwyI
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His first two points also were the Warriors’ first two of the night after starting in an 8-0 hole. It only got much, much worse from there in the Warriors’ embarrassing 144-93 blowout loss against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum.
The newest Warrior took four more shots in the first quarter and missed all four as Golden State trailed Memphis by 22 points, 37-15. He took another four in the second quarter. Again, Schröder came up empty each and every time. Only now, the Warriors’ deficit at halftime grew to 31 points, 69-38.
Schröder missed his first try of the second half, giving him nine consecutive misses, before finally hitting another mid-range jumper from 18 feet with a little under seven minutes remaining in the third quarter. The two points made it a 41-point game, 90-49.
A minute later, Schröder missed again, one last time. With five minutes left in the third quarter and the Warriors down by 46 points, Schröder’s first game in Golden State threads came to an early, unforgettable end.
“Dennis looked like a guy on a new team,” coach Steve Kerr told reporters after the ugly loss. “It’s always difficult to get traded midseason and play with a brand new group and have different terminology and all that stuff.”
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Through his first 23 games playing for the Brooklyn Nets this season, Schröder, in his 12th NBA campaign, was enjoying perhaps his best offensive output. While his 18.4 points per game ranked as the third-best of his career, it was his efficiency, both inside the 3-point line and behind it, that shone brightest. Not in his first game as a Warrior, though. Like the rest of his teammates, nothing went Schroder’s way.
He played a total of a 22 minutes and scored five points, his second-lowest output this season. Schröder went 2 of 12 from the field, missed all four of his 3-point attempts and split his two free throws. While his five assists were a team-high, Schroder’s four turnovers also were tied for the most on the Warriors.
Blaming him for the Warriors’ spanking would be as unforgivable as the product Kerr’s players put on the floor for 48 minutes. Schröder’s nightmarish debut was only a blip in the Warriors’ much bigger problems.
“Look, they did a great job on Steph [Curry],” Kerr said. “Denying him everywhere, making his every catch difficult. … We’ve lost nine out of 11. We’re reeling and we’ve got to get it back, clearly.”
Somehow, Schröder was better than his new backcourt mate and future Hall of Famer. Curry played 24 minutes and scored two points. He took seven shots and couldn’t convert once, including all six of his 3-point shots.
Thursday was only the seventh time in Curry’s 16-year NBA career that he didn’t make at least one shot in a game, but his 24 minutes played were his most without doing so, as were his seven missed shots. That’s also what happens when a 36-year-old dealing with bilateral knee soreness, plus recent inflammation in his neck area, is being guarded for all 94 feet and nobody else truly scares the opposition into shifting their strategy.
The Grizzlies denied and top-locked Curry wherever he went, no matter his distance from the hoop. They were willing to let anybody else beat them, or at least try.
Andrew Wiggins was the Warriors’ only effective scorer, giving them 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 4 of 5 from long distance. Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins couldn’t have cared less. Jonathan Kuminga was sent back to the bench and went 2 of 12 from the field for 11 points. Brandin Podziemski scored a team-high 21 points off the bench, however, 16 were in the fourth quarter when the Warriors walked into the final frame trailing the Grizzlies by 50 points.
Heralded at the beginning of the season when the Warriors opened with a 12-3 record, their defense now has allowed 287 points the last two games. They allowed 46 first-quarter points to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night, only to watch the Grizzlies score 37 in the first a few days later, rotating late and over helping for wide-open shots all game long.
Bringing in Schröder was a needed, necessary addition. Judging the move off one game would be asinine.
Everything outside of Schröder’s first showing was a worrisome trend the Warriors can’t wait around forever to solve if there’s any chance of salvaging this season, and taking advantage of the final years Curry can give the only franchise he has ever known.
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