Warriors: 4 Reasons Why They Have Struggled Recently

The Warriors have lost five straight games, but they are going into the All-Star break with their heads up. The big picture is that after 52 games, the Warriors are 30-22, which is quite an improvement upon last year. This year, the Warriors have five different players participating in all-star weekend. That’s a rarity, isn’t it?

January 31, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson (far right) instructs point guard Jarrett Jack (2, far left), power forward David Lee (10), power forward Carl Landry (7), and small forward Harrison Barnes (40) during the third quarter against the Dallas Mavericks at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Mavericks 100-97. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Unfortunately, the fact that the Warriors have lost five games in a row cannot be ignored. With the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets closing in pretty quickly, the Warriors could be in some trouble.

The Warriors’ next game is against the Jazz in Utah on Tuesday, which is not going to be an easy one. The only upside to that game is that the Warriors have already beaten the Jazz twice this season, something that many other teams have failed to do. That building has been good to the Jazz this season, as they stand at 20-6 at home.

The Warriors, however, have had a very unfortunate schedule. At 31 games, the Warriors have played the most road games of any team so far in this league. This means that many of their final games are at home. In fact, 16 of their final 22 games are at home. This means the Warriors will have a chance to cruise right to the playoffs.

Right now, however, the Warriors are struggling without Andrew Bogut. Why?

1. David Lee

David Lee’s production has gone down majorly in this stretch of games. In the past five contests, Lee is averaging a mere 15.6 points and 8.4 rebounds, as opposed to his 19 points and 11 rebounds on average. This is a drastic decrease, as he was one of the go-to guys. Whenever the Warriors needed a big or quick bucket, they would go to him. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been making those signature shots that he had been with consistency earlier in the season. Lee needs to step it up after a confidence boosting All-Star Game.

2. Klay Thompson

Inconsistency. In January, Thompson averaged 18.4 points per game, but so far in February, he hasn’t been doing as well, averaging roughly 14 points per game. The Warriors need him to be that scorer that he usually is. Last game against Houston, he started to drive to the basket more, which is what good shooters do when they’re not open. He scored 22 points two nights ago: Maybe the Warriors will be seeing more of this in the second half?

3. Defense

This has been a huge problem. Over the last five games, the Warriors have allowed an average of 118 points per game. That is way to high, considering other teams like the Grizzlies are holding teams to 90 points per night. This has really poked a hole in the Warriors’ confidence.

The return of Andrew Bogut didn’t help much with the rebounding aspect. In all of these games, Bogut has had some good rebounding, but other teammates just aren’t giving him the support he needs. Bogut will force a miss, but the opposing team would get an offensive rebound and hit a three. Their defense doesn’t react quickly enough, so the other team has a second possession. That really hurts.

4. Carl Landry/Jarrett Jack

Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry have been two of the main contributors for the Warriors this year. Jarrett Jack returned from a three game absence on Tuesday night, and scored 22. The Warriors struggles, however, weren’t because they needed Jarrett Jack.

Carl Landry can take some of the blame for it. He and Lee have proved to be a very deadly tandem, and although Landry’s playing time has decreased, he isn’t playing efficiently. Landry is averaging 11.5 points per game this season, but that hasn’t been the case in the month of February, as he’s averaging eight points per game: Not bad, but not the production the Warriors are looking for.