Even though Stephen Curry had a rough shooting night, the Golden State Warriors had every opportunity to finish their five-game road trip with a win.
But the Dubs came apart late in the fourth quarter and fell 118-114 to the Washington Wizards. Golden State did everything right for 32 minutes of this game, but a bad start-and-finish combined to doom the team.
The Warriors led 104-95 with just over five minutes remaining, but Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal helped the Wizards complete the comeback. The Dubs had a chance to tie it with less than 10 seconds to go, but Andrew Wiggins missed a layup, which set up the game-clinching free throws by David Bertans with 5.2 seconds left on the clock.
Curry shot just seven-of-25 from the field and finished with 18 points, his lowest output in more than a month. Kelly Oubre Jr. led Golden State with 24, while Jordan Poole had 22 in the loss. Beal had 29 to lead Washington, while veteran Russell Westbrook finished a triple-double, recording 14 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists.
“I think it was fatigue. I think we were just exhausted. I think we just ran out of gas the last seven minutes or so,” head coach Steve Kerr said following the loss. “Had a good lead, seemingly in control, and we just couldn’t get it done. “I thought Russell Westbrook was fantastic, took over the game in the fourth. I thought the trip caught up to us, I thought our guys just looked gassed.”
For the second straight game, the Dubs got off to a slow start. Bradley Beal had seven points less than six minutes in, and the Wizards jumped out to an early 20-9 lead. It didn’t get any better for the Warriors after Kerr called a timeout to regroup.
Golden State struggled on both ends of the floor over the opening 12 minutes. Curry started cold, hitting on just two of his first eight field-goal attempts, while the Dubs shot just 38.1 percent from the field. The defense wasn’t much better as well. Washington shot 52.4 percent in the first quarter and held a 38-20 lead after one.
The good news is that with Curry on the bench, the second unit brought the Warriors back into the game. Jordan Poole and Kelly Oubre Jr. combined for 12 points over the first 4:58 of the second to lead Golden State on a 20-6 run to close the gap to just four points.
The Wizards kept Curry in check once he returned to the court, holding the NBA’s leading scorer to just four points in the half. But Oubre, Andrew Wiggins and Kent Bazemore stepped up with Curry struggling, with the trio combining for 38 points through the first two quarters. The second unit outscored Washington 22-6 with Curry on the bench and cut the deficit to two going into the break.
It looked like the Wizards would get out to a double-digit lead early in the third after they went by nine less than five minutes into the quarter, but the Dubs bounced back with a run of their own. Curry finally got going, while Bazemore, Wiggins and Oubre continued their solid nights and helped Golden State go an 18-2 run to take a seven-point lead, which is where the advantage stood going into the fourth.
The Warriors fell below .500 once again with the loss and finish their five-game road trip with a 3-2 record. The Dubs return home for a pair of three games in a row, beginning with a showdown against the Denver Nuggets on Friday.
