Warriors’ slow starts really hurting

All throughout the season and first three rounds of the playoffs, the Golden State Warriors had one of the most dominant, if not the most dominant, starting lineups in the league. But that dominant starting lineup has been nowhere to be found in the first three games of the NBA Finals.

The group of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut outscored opponents by 19.6 points per 100 possessions in 813 regular-season minutes, per NBA.com. In 204 playoff minutes in the first three rounds, that unit outscored opponents by 10.5 points per 100 possessions.

But through the first three games of the Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, that unit has been outscored by 12.2 points per 100 possessions. So would it be any surprise that the Warriors have been outscored by 13.3 points per 100 possessions in the three first quarters in this series and 6.9 points per 100 possessions in the three third quarters? Of course not.

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The bad first quarters have been an especially big problem. The Warriors are shooting just 33.8 percent overall and 18.2 percent from three in the first quarter in the Finals. That’s unfathomably bad for arguably the best offense in the league this season. The Cavaliers have been playing some great defense, but the Warriors have been mostly out of it, which has helped Cleveland set the tone.

Curry has really struggled to get going in these games, and that’s obviously a big problem. When the league MVP can’t make anything, you’re going to have a bad time.

But part of the reason Curry is struggling is because the Cavaliers are devoting so much attention to stopping him and daring his teammates to beat them. And his teammates just aren’t doing it.

Green, Barnes and Bogut have all been awful offensively. Green has lost all confidence in his jumper, and too often he’s either driving right into the teeth of the defense and forcing up a tough shot or forcing a tough pass that doesn’t work. Barnes has had a plethora open jump-shot opportunities, only to miss them by a lot. Bogut is barely even looking at the rim when he gets the ball. On the first possession of Game 3, Bogut had a chance for a dunk or layup, but instead he tried to force a pass that resulted in a turnover.

Golden State might be able to win this series simply if Curry and Thompson start going off and hitting some of the shots they’ve been missing, but it would certainly help if some of these other guys started to play better as well. Green especially has been disappointing, and to make matters worse, he’s nursing a back injury.

Even despite these problems, the Warriors still have a great chance to wrestle control of this series back in Game 4. Vegas still believes in them, as Golden State is a 2½-point favorite on the road. You’d expect the Warriors to come out and play better in Game 4, but who knows at this point.