The defending champions have officially entered uncharted territory.
Thursday’s one-point loss to the Orlando Magic marked the Golden State Warriors’ fourth consecutive loss and fifth straight defeat on the road to start the 2022-23 campaign.
Behind Steph Curry, the Warriors held a 15-point advantage in the third quarter on Thursday before falling apart in the second half to the one-win Magic. Led by Jalen Suggs, the Magic blitzed the Warriors in the third, scoring 43 points in a single quarter.
Golden State’s second unit continued to struggle. Jordan Poole was the only player off the bench to tally over double-figures with 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field against the Magic. Every player off the bench recorded a negative number in the plus/minus category outside of two-way guard Ty Jerome.
After their record dropped to 3-6, changes could be coming to the Warriors’ rotation. In Thursday’s postgame presser Steve Kerr said the Warriors are going to have to “make some changes.”
We’ve set a terrible tone. We’ve done that pretty much all year. We’re going to have to make some adjustments, make some changes. We’ve had nine games now. So, we’ve had a decent look at combinations, so it’s time to try something different.
Oh, everybody’s going to get a chance to play. We’ve got guys who are dying to get on the floor. We’ve got to find combinations that click. We’ll discuss that as a staff and we’ll figure that out.
Via @NBCSWarriors on Twitter:
Steve Kerr says the Warriors will have to "make some adjustments" to the rotations pic.twitter.com/RklME4Z7yl
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 4, 2022
Second-year forward Jonathan Kuminga could be a player Kerr goes to if the Warriors are interested in switching things up. Kuninga has received double-figure minutes off the bench in three games this season, including the season-opening win against the Los Angeles Lakers. However, the former No. 7 overall pick hasn’t played a minute in Golden State’s last two losses on the road.
Golden State’s pair of rookies, Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Ryan Rollins, could also be options for Kerr in the second unit.
The Warriors will have one final chance to salvage a win on their road trip with the second leg of a back-to-back coming on Friday against the New Orleans Pelicans.
This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
