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Warriors Hold NBA's Worst Record at All-Star Break Amid Steph, Klay Injuries
February 14, 2020
The Golden State Warriors won three NBA championships over a five-year period in which they averaged 64.4 wins per season, but the Dubs will officially enter the All-Star break with the league's worst record at 12-43 after regular-season play concluded on Thursday:
Caesars Palace listed a 47-win over/under total for Golden State before the season, good enough for seventh-best in the Western Conference.
However, the Warriors assured themselves of falling short of that mark following a loss to the Utah Jazz on Jan. 22.
Injuries and departures have taken a toll on Golden State.
Two-time All-NBA selection Klay Thompson has missed the whole year with a torn ACL suffered in last year's NBA Finals, and two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry played only four games before suffering a broken left hand against the Phoenix Suns in October.
Three-time All-Star Draymond Green has been sidelined for 14 games, and 2019 offseason acquisition D'Angelo Russell played just 33 games in a Warriors uniform before being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a deal that brought back small forward Andrew Wiggins.
Kevon Looney has also played just 15 games.
Thompson, Curry and Green have been mainstays in the Warriors' lineup for years, while Looney has been a key cog in the team's rotation in recent seasons.
Elsewhere, Kevin Durant left in free agency to sign with the Brooklyn Nets, and the Warriors dealt Andre Iguodala to the Memphis Grizzlies.
All told, the Warriors' core from their championship era disappeared, leading to a difficult season in San Francisco.
The Warriors had the league's best win-loss record at the All-Star break (and at the end of the regular season) each year from 2014-15 through 2016-17. Their regular-season performance slightly regressed in 2017-18 and 2018-19, but Golden State still finished no worse than 57-25 over that span.
Golden State is on pace to amass 64 losses this year, however, as the team plays out the string of a lost campaign.
The future does look brighter in the Bay Area. Thompson should be good to go for next year, and the Warriors will return Curry to the mix as well.
Golden State also has a new wing in Wiggins to man small forward, and the Warriors will also be adding a lottery pick in the upcoming draft barring a trade. They are guaranteed no worse than the fifth pick in the draft if they finish with the league's worst mark.