Adejected Following the Golden State Warriors’ third straight loss — 132-122 — at home to Luka Doncic on December 30, Stephen Curry confronted the media in a dejected way, as the Warriors fell to 11th in the Western Conference.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr shuffled his starting lineup, bringing in Chris Paul to assist Curry during his shooting slump and rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis to shore up their defense.

However, the move did not produce the expected results.

“It’s just the nature of this team,” Curry said after the loss. “It kind of materialized over the course of the year.” We’ve done a lot of experimenting. Some for compelled reasons. Some of us are looking for an identity of what our strengths are and how we can play to them, and we haven’t discovered that yet.”

Despite leading the Warriors in scoring, Curry struggled to establish his flow. He had 25 points but only shot 9-of-25 from the field. Curry is shooting an unusual 31% from the floor and from deep during the Warriors’ three-game losing streak.

The Warriors’ continual lineup changes are wearing on them.

“It’s certainly frustrating. We’ve played 32 games thus far. And, normally, any club that is a serious challenger, a good squad, can answer that question. So, we must definitely get to that stage before it’s too late,” Curry stressed.

Big Games to Begin the New Year

The Warriors are one game behind the Houston Rockets for the final position in the play-in tournament, sitting at 15-17.

After dropping the first two games of their current seven-game homestand, the Warriors will begin the new year with back-to-back tough games before facing the league’s weakest club, the Detroit Pistons, on January 5.

But, after facing the rising Orlando Magic on January 2 and the reigning champion Denver Nuggets on January 4, would they have enough gas to face the lowly Pistons on the second night of a back-to-back?

The Magic have the size and length that have made the Warriors uncomfortable this season. Last week, Nikola Jokic’s 18-of-18 shooting at the foul line and Jamal Murray’s clutch play helped the Nuggets defeat Kerr’s well-executed game plan.

Steve Kerr questions the Warriors’ tenacity.

Steve Kerr understands what is wrong with the Warriors, who continue to falter in situations where they have previously won.

“We haven’t found that grit that every good team needs, where you pull together and just play for the group,” Kerr said after the loss to reporters. “We’re not quite there yet.” That is a problem. We have some fantastic guys. I adore each and every one of them. But we’ll be stuck in this position until this squad truly unites in a way that is entirely focused to winning each and every game.”

Despite having the correct diagnosis, he is having difficulty healing the ailments that have been sinking the once-dynasty this season, such as Saturday night’s game against the Mavericks.

“The defense struggled all night,” remarked Kerr. “They scored 132 points and we couldn’t stop them.” We were fine offensively. You have a score of 122, which should be sufficient.”