What started as a bright campaign for the Golden State Warriors is quickly starting to come undone.
The defeat to the Miami Heat could be brushed aside. The Warriors are in the middle of a tough run, crossing multiple time zones, and had none of their starters available against Miami.
But even with Curry, Butler, Green and Horford back on the court against Portland, they couldn’t avoid their third straight loss, despite Curry’s 38-point performance.
Now sitting at 9-9 and eighth in the Western Conference standings, there’s a real risk that they’ll be dragged into another battle around the play-in spots—a scenario that has become all too familiar in recent years.
After falling short against Portland, Butler didn’t hold back in sharing how frustrated the team’s key players are with their current form.
Draymond Green ‘livid’ over Warriors’ defensive struggles
Butler, never one to hold back, hasn’t shied away from criticising his team’s performances this season. And after the Warriors allowed 127 points against Portland, he didn’t hesitate to call out their defensive effort.
The six-time All-Star said, “We’re just not guarding nobody. From what I can tell, I haven’t been here long, but that hasn’t been the formula here. To win a championship, you gotta take each and every matchup personal. Yeah, help is gonna be there, but we gotta do way better guarding on that side of the ball.
“It’s everything. Because you’re not taking anything away. You’re not taking the paint away, and not taking away layups, free throws, lobs or threes. So we don’t know where they’re gonna get a shot from, but tonight they were getting whatever shot they wanted.”
Butler continued: “I’m always optimistic, but I’m also a truth teller. We can beat individuals on some nights whenever we are scoring the basketball, but you can’t always bank on shots going in for whatever reason.”
“You always have to be able to guard,” Butler said. “Until we get back to guarding and taking when people score on us personally – we’ll be in a funk for a while… We’re gonna practice too which is good… Do some closeout drills… Play some one-on-one… See who got what.”
When asked whether he and Draymond Green were setting an example defensively by taking things personally Butler replied:
“I [take it personally]. I know for a fact [Green] does. He’s livid. He can care less about who makes what shot… He wants to get a stop every play down the floor. As he should. As he should. Because he’s doing the toughest part if you’re being real.
“He gotta help and box out and block shots and get the rebound… Honestly I’d be p—-d if I was Dray too.”
If there is one man that would want his side playing tough defense every night it would be Green – who has long been an outspoken leader in Oakland across three championship-winning seasons with Curry.
Golden State Warriors’ defense starting to slip
Despite Butler’s complaints, the Warriors haven’t been an abysmal defensive team this season by any means.
They’re 11th in points allowed, giving up only 114.9 points per game, and while they’re 20th in opponents’ field goal percentage, they’re in the top 10 for opponents three point percentage. On the perimeter, they’ve been fairly sound.
But after a hot start to the season, where the Warriors went 4-1 through five games, their defense has fallen off. In their first nine games, they gave up only 106.3 points per outing. Since then, it’s been 117.3.
The numbers show that Butler’s concerns aren’t just noise – something needs fixing before things get away from them.
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