The warrior Accordingly, there was a player-led meeting before their Christmas game with the Lakers Trayce Jackson Daviswho said that Stephen Curry According to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, he was particularly vocal during that meeting. Curry’s message was that the Warriors’ season — which began with 12 wins in 15 games and then lost 10 of the next 13 games through Wednesday — “can go one way or the other,” Jackson-Davis explained.

“It was difficult to find any kind of momentum or consistency” Curry explained. “You just can’t lose your courage, your faith that we’re a good enough team to figure it out. Because this league is ruthless… You dig yourself a hole that’s hard to get out of. At the moment we are exactly in the time window in which we can gain some momentum. The next few weeks before the (All-Star) break are crucial. Or we find ourselves in a situation where we’re chasing the track and no one wants to be there.”

While Curry backed up his message with a season-high 38 points on 14 of 24 shooting, it wasn’t enough for Golden State against Los Angeles. The Warriors tied the game in the final seconds with a Curry three-pointer, but were decisively defeated Austin Reaves Layup on next possession. The club is now 15-14 and just half a game ahead of the No. 11 Spurs.

“We are down” Head coach Steve Kerr said ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk about his team’s morale. “Everyone is disappointed. We have lost some trust. You can feel it. We had a great atmosphere at the start of the season and that’s what we’re experiencing right now. But I love our boys, boys with strong character. They care. They care about each other. I believe in you. I’m confident we’ll turn things around, so it’s all part of the season, part of life.”

We have more on the Warriors:

• Golden State is back in action on Friday against the Clippers and Saturday against Phoenix. Curry – who is dealing with bilateral knee tendonitis – could miss one of the two games in this back-to-back set after playing a “tough” 36 minutes on Wednesday, Kerr told reporters after the loss. “When the knee popped up, (selective rest) was part of the conversation.” Curry said. “I’m still kind of coping with it.” If Curry misses one of this weekend’s games, Slater says it will likely be Friday’s game in LA
• Warrior Guard Gary Payton II left Wednesday’s game in the third quarter with a left calf issue and went to the locker room for the remainder of the contest. The severity of the injury is not yet known, but Payton limped out of the arena at the end of the night, Slater reports.
• Kerr took his share of blame for the Warriors’ struggles in recent weeks, noting that his unpredictable lineups and rotations haven’t made things any easier for his players, as Slater relays. “I had a million different starting lineups. Guys are in and out of rotations. I’m certainly aware of that and as a player it’s hard not knowing how many minutes you’re going to get, what minutes you’re going to get.” Kerr said. “The reality is that we are looking. We lost 11 out of 14 games. I don’t feel like this is a squad where you say, ‘Here are our top eight guys, top nine guys.’ Our roster is really deep. We have a lot of people who can play. Every game requires something different. That’s the problem.”
• In a report for The Athletic, Marcus Thompson II and The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski take an in-depth look at how the Warriors are moving forward Andrew Wiggins tries to rediscover his joy after struggling with his father’s deteriorating health and possible death in recent years.