San Francisco – Three games ago, Jordan Paul It was bigger and slower Drew Eubanks On the key near the top of the key left with 55 seconds f the Warriors driving Blazer with three points.
Paul, keen to attack mismatched with his speed and dribbling, attempted a dribble at an odd right-to-left angle behind the back, flowing into a left-handed drive. But he started moving to the edge before completing the dribble. The ball was hit out of his hands and went out of bounds. Caught a fan in the stadium Steve Curryreaction to the timing error. It was Paul’s seventh turnover of the night and Portland kept him in it.
😭😭😭😭😭😭 Steve was mad as hell because of Jordan’s spin pic.twitter.com/OrXbsPCQ2r
-. (stephspoole) December 31, 2022
Two games out, Paul pushed him into the frontcourt with 15 seconds left in regulation, and the Warriors fell behind hawk by one. Saw retreat Bogdan Bogdanovich And he decided to attack him in the drive. But another frantic dribbling move from left to right ended badly.
Paul attempted a crossover when he entered Bogdanovic’s body. The slight bump knocked him off balance. It wasn’t enough to just blow a whistle. The ball flew off his knee out of bounds. It was the most significant of his six turns, as Atlanta re-possessed with 12 seconds left and with a one-point lead.
Wednesday night vs pistonsHowever, for the third consecutive game, Paul had the ball in his hands in the final minute of a tough game. For the third game in a row, he delivered it with a rushing dribble move.
This came against the exploiter Alec Burks in the case of switching. The Warriors, after one touchdown with 15 seconds left, allowed him some room to investigate with plenty of time left on the shot clock. He attempted to hit Burks with a slow-to-fast, right-to-left crossing, but the move was again accelerated. He stumbled while changing his speed and direction. The ball bounced to the right Killian Hayes For another important turn.
They may all look the same, but there was a huge difference between Paul III’s spins and the first two. The Warriors went on to defeat the Blazers and Hawks. They fell to the league-worst Pistons on Wednesday night, 122-119, snapping a five-game winning streak that would have stretched to six.
Late-game mistakes are placed under a larger microscope externally and absorbed with harsher feelings internally when they happen to be at a loss. It ultimately didn’t cost them against Portland and Atlanta. I did against Detroit. It wasn’t the only late game foul – Draymond Green Kick (Controversially) and lost the Warriors defense be honest with you to buzzer buzzer — but it was an extension of the bigger picture trend he finally nailed to Poole and the Warriors.
Paul took it hard. You can see him in the moments after he turns around as he wallows in court in disbelief and later when he’s sitting in his locker quieter than usual. Clay Thompsonblazing down the stretch, had relinquished control of that possession, and refused to switch off attack Isaiah Stewart for letting Paul go to Berks.
“I told him in the locker room that there was a reason I threw the ball to him,” said Thompson. “Because he’s like that. He’s a clutch player. He’s a shot-taker. We wouldn’t have had this winning streak without him. And I know that. I mean, shoot, we all go through these lapses early on in our careers. I remember missing two free throws against Nuggets Sophomore year and I just walked out of the ring in my uniform. So, it feels like we all have to go through it. Steve (Carey) went through it. Jordan, we’ll continue to trust him with the ball in his hands because he’s the engine that gets us going.”
The Warriors are 5-1 in this home run and 6-4 since Curry went down with a shoulder injury. That’s more than enough, keeping them afloat long enough to once again offer competitive status to Curry, who appears to be targeting a return to open the next road trip on Jan. 13 vs. San Antonio.
Paul has been a key part of all six of those wins without Curry. He scored 43 points on 14-of-23 during his masterpiece performance in Toronto. He had 32 points in three quarters in Memphis before being ejected, helping build the lead the Warriors would hold. He had 24 against hornets26 v Jazz41 against the Blazers and 28 against the Falcons.
Not everything was clean and efficient. He needed 31 shots for his 28 points against Atlanta. He has 49 turnovers in 10 games since Curry left the lineup. He can get a little scatterbrained and sloppy when he forces the issue and – he gets put into the primary creation role with no curry or Andrew Wiggins – The command must be enforced over large parts of the game or the warriors will not be able to get enough points.
That’s why Steve Kerr redirected a question about Paul’s late transition problem so quickly into a greater appreciation for what Paul does with a level of offensive responsibility he’s never had for such an extended period.
“He’s also a solid shot,” Kerr said. “He hit two big jumpers down the stretch. Jordan made a lot of big plays for us and helped us win a lot of games. What’s great is that everything is a learning experience for him at this point in his career. He’s got a lot of experience at the time.” Late in the game. He made one mistake, but he did two big shots right before that and I think I played really well and I played hard the whole game.”
Paul made a 20-foot putt after a great isolation move against Burkes with 3:21 left. Warriors brought in within two. He nailed a 29-foot 3 with 2:28 left that put the Warriors close in two. Without either, they might not have been around for that turnover to become significant.
But this does not reduce the sting. Paul has a burning desire to be great, he showed up in big moments during the playoffs and was awarded a four-year, $123 million extension this summer that will start next season. He’s putting tremendous pressure on himself to live up to that. Thompson, who mentioned that time he cooked after being fouled against the Nuggets, said younger players always take it harder. The job perspective still hasn’t landed.
Thompson said, “Yes.” “Because you want to be great every night. You have high expectations of yourself. I know Jordan does. I do as well. You just expect to be great. It’s unrealistic to be great every game. But you still want to be your best. It never feels good when you come home after a game when you feel like you could have done it differently or handled it this way. But it’s part of being an athlete, dealing with the ups and downs and embracing the journey.”
This would turn out to be a bad loss for the Warriors. Detroit has just 11 wins, two of them against Golden State. But they have survived enough scary moments in this house that doesn’t weaken them. They are 20-19 years old, related to suns for eighth in the West and just one game short of fifth. Wiggins could return early on Saturday vs Charm. Curry could be back late next week.
It’s part of the reason they struck an upbeat tone after the match and supported Paul.
“I was just telling the guys how proud I am of them for having held the fort these past two weeks,” Kerr said. “Tonight was tough, but considering the state of our roster for us to win five of those first six games at home on such a run and have all these guys fight and throw and mess up night after night, it was really impressive and it puts us in a great position for the future. Reinforcements are coming in. So it was a tough loss, but like I said, more than anything, I’m proud of the whole group.”
(Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)