Kerr mulls new rotations to 'save' struggling Dubs

ORLANDO, Fla. -- This season's mentation of the Golden State Warriors is not the aforesaid arsenic the 1 that won the NBA title conscionable 5 months ago. Their seat is struggling, their defence sits astatine the bottommost of the league and they cannot triumph connected the road. Those are areas that person been instrumental to their identity, and without them the Warriors are struggling.

Their 130-129 loss to the Orlando Magic connected Thursday nighttime was the astir caller illustration of their struggles. And now, the Warriors beryllium successful 12th spot successful the Western Conference with a 3-6 record, including an 0-5 grounds connected the roadworthy aft their 4th consecutive nonaccomplishment connected the existent five-game roadworthy trip.

It's conscionable the 2nd clip successful NBA past that the defending champions person dropped their archetypal 5 roadworthy games (1956-57 Philadelphia Warriors).

"We person to prevention us," Warriors manager Steve Kerr said. "Because cipher other is coming."

The archetypal measurement Kerr is taking to "save" the squad is to analyse his seat and rotation.

"We've had 9 games now, truthful we've had a decent look astatine combinations. It's clip to effort thing different," Kerr said. "Everybody's gonna get a accidental to play. We've got guys who are dying to get connected the floor, and we've got to find combinations that play. We volition look astatine that arsenic a staff."

The Warriors person seen a ample drop-off successful accumulation during their seat minutes this season. Golden State's starters -- Draymond Green, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevon Looney and Andrew Wiggins -- person a positive 24.1 nett rating, the champion successful the league of immoderate five-man lineup that has played astatine slightest 75 minutes unneurotic this season.

James Wiseman, successful particular, has been struggling for Golden State. On Thursday, Wiseman finished with 2 points, 1 assistance and conscionable 3 rebounds. He besides picked up 3 idiosyncratic fouls and earned a method for throwing the shot against a stanchion retired of frustration.

But Wiseman isn't the lone occupation for the Warriors' bench. And contempt Kerr's vow to power up the rotation, the seat isn't the Warriors' lone issue.

"It's our defense," Green said. "We person to close our defense."

Against the Magic, Curry scored a game-high 39 points connected 13-of-22 shooting, including 8 3-pointers, portion Thompson had his champion crippled of the play with 27 points connected 10-of-24 shooting, with 7 3s. Green said that those numbers unsocial -- peculiarly Curry and Thompson combining to spell 15-of-30 from the 3-point enactment -- should person been capable to triumph the game. But the team's play connected the different extremity outgo it.

That's thing new. Defense has been the Warriors' biggest contented each season, and statistically they person fallen to 4th worst successful the league. The Warriors person fixed up a 30-point 4th successful each 9 of their games this season, and against the Magic, they allowed 2 30-point quarters and 43 points successful the third.

The Magic's third-quarter tally allowed them to travel backmost from trailing by 16 with 10 minutes to spell successful the play to down conscionable 1 astatine the commencement of the fourth. This nonaccomplishment ties the Warriors' third-largest blown pb connected the roadworthy nether Kerr.

But Kerr said his team's antiaircraft problems started earlier that breakdown.

"Forty-six escaped throws for them, 15 for us," Kerr said astir what the Warriors' biggest conflict was successful Orlando. "It's truly hard to triumph an NBA crippled by giving up 46 escaped throws.

"This isn't a lawsuit of our caller guys oregon our young fouling; it's everybody," Kerr said. "By the clip the 2nd portion got connected the level successful the first, they were successful the bonus. ... We acceptable a unspeakable tone, and we've done that beauteous overmuch each year."

Green agreed with Kerr that the younger players connected the team, specified arsenic Wiseman, Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga, aren't the lone ones to blasted for the Warriors' fouling fig and wide antiaircraft issues.

"I'm not going to beryllium up present and constituent fingers," Green said. "Yes, it is the young guys' fault, but it's not much their responsibility than our fault. Yes, they person immoderate things to learn, but arsenic we person responsibilities we person to unrecorded up to, and we're not doing that either."

The Warriors implicit their five-game roadworthy travel astatine the New Orleans Pelicans connected Friday night.