What we learned as the Warriors’ offense sputtered in the crucial period of the loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX score

There are no soft touches, no cupcakes, no easy wins for the Warriors. That became clear once again on Monday evening in Toronto.

The Warriors had a two-day break between games, had a practice on Sunday and still couldn’t pull away from the reeling Toronto Raptors, who had lost 16 of their last 17 games.

Golden State was in another “fighting game,” and a 104-101 loss to this particular team clearly shows that the Warriors have many more difficult steps ahead if they want to climb out of mediocrity.

Stephen Curry scored 26 points to lead Golden State in scoring. Andrew Wiggins finished with 20, Kyle Anderson with 13, Dennis Schröder with 12 and Kevon Looney, coming off the bench, had 10 points and nine rebounds.

Toronto reserve center Chris Boucher, a former Warrior, finished the game with 17 points on 7 of 8 shooting in the fourth quarter.

After losing two of the first three games of their four-game road trip, the Warriors need a win over the Timberwolves on Wednesday in Minnesota following a .500 trip.

Here are three observations from a game that features recent worrisome losses:

The offensive is still in a fog

The Warriors shot 39.8 percent from the field – and 40.1 percent in the paintwhere their offense all too often founders.

On a larger scale, their search for offense continues. The Warriors have had three outbursts in the last six weeks, but there hasn’t been a season in which they stayed at or above the NBA average of about 112 points.

While they have a 7-14 record in their last 21 games, only one of the 11 starting lineups has reached 100 points in consecutive games during that span.

Part of the poor performance is due to the difficult adjustment of Dennis Schröder, who did not find the necessary rhythm for the offensive to hum. And Buddy Hield’s 3-point shot has been unfathomable since mid-November.

When a squad that has only failed to reach 100 seven times in the last two seasons already has 11 such games halfway through this season, the system is failing.

Much needed solid play from Wiggins

After missing the first two games of the road trip, Wiggins returned to the team for Sunday’s practice, was back in the starting lineup and delivered a solid overall performance.

Boy, was that necessary?

He scored his 20 points on 6 of 13 shots from the field, including 4 of 9 from long range. He also grabbed three rebounds and played commendable defense against dangerous Toronto forwards Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett.

After scoring just nine points in his last game, a 114-98 loss to the Miami Heat last Tuesday at Chase Center, Wiggins had to find his way back on offense. With Jonathan Kuminga out for at least another 10 games, someone needs to step up as a capable No. 2 scorer behind Curry.

Wiggins took on this role in his hometown.

Buddy, buddy, buddy

Hield is making his ninth start to the 2024-25 NBA season, putting him in a prime position to become Golden State’s second- or third-leading scorer behind Curry.

Hield played 33 minutes and finished with eight points, making him tied with Lindy Waters III as Golden State’s sixth-leading scorer. He made 3 of 13 shots from the field, including 2 of 10 from distance. His best work was recording four steals.

Hield has made at least 50 percent of his shots only twice in the last 16 games. He averaged 9.0 points during that span.

Had Hield been able to hit two more triples, the Warriors likely would have found a way to win and avoided the embarrassment of a loss to a rebuilding team that’s going nowhere.

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