Draymond Green is frustrated with the Warriors’ lack of success on the road.
On the latest episode of “The Draymond Green Show,” the Warriors defensive ace opened up about what could cause Golden State to play so poorly on the road as opposed to the friendly confines of Chase Center.
“Quite frankly, I think, and I’ve said this before, I think winning on the road takes an incredible amount of mental toughness and it’s not just one guy with mental toughness or two guys or a few guys,” Green said. “It’s a collective mental toughness as a team and quite frankly it just seems like we haven’t achieved that as a team, to be as good as we are at home.”
The Warriors’ disparity at home and on the road is telling.
Golden State’s 27-7 home record is fifth best in the NBA, behind the Denver Nuggets (30-4), Memphis Grizzlies (26-5), Milwaukee Bucks (27-6) and Cleveland Cavaliers (28-7). ).
On the road, the Warriors’ 7-25 record is better than the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets at 6-27 and the Detroit Pistons (7-26).
For context, the Spurs, Rockets and Pistons are all battling for the first overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft and the opportunity to draft 7-foot-3 phenom Victor Wembanyama to kick off their respective rebuilds.
“And as bad as we are on the road, it just doesn’t make sense,” Green continued. “It’s like frailty 101. So it’s weird man, it’s weird and it’s like every time you feel like you’re taking the next step, it’s kind of two steps back .”
The Warriors’ 25th road loss came against the Oklahoma City Thunder, which saw Steph Curry drop 40 points in just his second game after his leg injury.
Green noted that the Warriors have to beat the teams they’re “supposed” to beat and that it was “great” to have Curry back in the roster, even though Golden State still needs to rework its rotations.
“When you get such a big strength back, it takes time, like filling up and working your way through it,” the 32-year-old said. “In saying that, I’m not sure it should have equaled losses, especially since he played on his return.”
Green thinks the Warriors’ road problems have just been “unfortunate”.
“It’s very frustrating, frustrating to say the least in such a stacked Western Conference, a blockage where we’re at and like I said, you really have to win the games you’re supposed to win and frankly, we dropped the ball,” Vert concluded.
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The Warriors are running out of time to right the ship and adequately resolve their road issues.
If Golden State fails to work out its difficulties on the road, its chances of repeating itself as champion could be over before it really begins.
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