All momentum the Warriors built winning four of their first five games in an eight-day span was popped and deflated with two losses in three days against two undermanned teams.
These are the types of losses the Warriors have been trying to avoid. The kind that aren’t supposed to happen with Jimmy Butler on their side. The Warriors have been laser focused on starting strong to avoid sprinting through the end of the regular season. That team didn’t show up in Milwaukee or Indiana as the Warriors have now suffered their first losing streak of the young 2025-26 season.
First after finding out an hour before tipoff that the Milwaukee Bucks weren’t going to have Giannis Antetokounmpo, former Warriors second-round draft pick Ryan Rollins had the best game of his career with 32 points on 13-of-21 shooting and 5 of 7 on threes, eight assists and only one turnover to beat his first team. Steve Kerr joked the Warriors “are like 0-12 the last couple years when opponents sit their stars,” after the loss.
He didn’t have any comedic quips Saturday night after losing to the previously winless Indiana Pacers.
The Pacers weren’t sitting any stars. Tyrese Haliburton, their biggest star, is already out for the season after tearing his Achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. But four other key Pacers were out to injuries, leaving Pascal Siakam, Aaron Nesmith and a point guard on a two-way contract who would be in G League training camp right now if Indiana was healthier to hand the Warriors a loss that had frustrations voiced in postgame press conferences.
Rollins’ career high was the opening course of putting a sour taste on the start of the Warriors’ mini road trip. The plate grew for the Pacers. Nesmith scored a career-high 31 points after averaging 11 going into Saturday’s game. The 25 points Quenton Jackson scored, an undrafted 27-year-old, were two fewer than he had totaled between his three previous games this season, and set a new career high. Plus, Jackson handed out a career-high 10 assists and didn’t record one turnover.
He and Rollins both had these kinds of dream-like performances while also guarding Steph Curry.
Golden State Warriors
Find the latest Golden State Warriors news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
Kerr after the Warriors’ loss in Milwaukee used fatigue, mental and physical, as a reason for a bad night. His players didn’t agree. And the coach didn’t use anything that could be mistaken for an excuse after losing to what was an 0-5 Pacers team.
“We know the West is loaded, and it feels like we just gave away two games that if we are locked in and focused, playing the way we know we can play, then we should have won them,” Kerr said. “We got to pick those games up along the way, but at the end of the season, I mean, the last three years it’s the same thing. I mean, one or two games.
“We have to find a way to be sharper and to be better.”
Whatever’s on his mind, Kerr gets his point across. His words are deliberate and can feel purposeful getting messages across to his team. This loss felt like one of those moments.
“There’s going to be some tough nights. There are always tough nights during the season,” Kerr said. “This should not have been one of them. We had the day off yesterday. We didn’t do shootaround this morning. We had plenty of rest, but the execution down the stretch was awful. And it’s a shame because our young guys played their ass off.”
Calling the Warriors’ next game, which will be their eighth of the season, a must-win is prematurely pushing the panic button. Or is it? The tone is too heavy, sure. The intention must be as close to a gentler must-win as it can get, though.
The Warriors led by 11 points Saturday night, 104-93, after Curry made a three with just over six minutes left. As if a wave had crashed the Warriors’ sandcastle, everything came crumbling down over the final six minutes. The Pacers outscored them 21-5 until the final buzzer for their first win. In the clutch, the Warriors didn’t execute offensively or defensively, they fouled, they turned the ball over and the Pacers outplayed them in every category.
That three was the last shot Curry made. He missed six shots, five threes and a floater, had one turnover and even missed a free throw the rest of the game. The Warriors went from being down 73-67 when he was taken out at the 5:45 mark in the third quarter to having a nine-point lead when he came back at 6:26 of the fourth behind players like Brandin Podziemski, Gui Santos and Moses Moody.
Curry was a minus-21 against the Pacers and had five turnovers for his second consecutive game.
“It’s the frustration of not being able to capture that momentum that we had and sustain the start that we had,” Curry said. “I know we can get it back. Long way to go. You start 4-2 and everybody has been talking about how hard the schedule has been and this and that, but these are two games that you really should have and wanted to have to show for our start.
“Hopefully it lights a fire in all of us to get back on the horse and figure out how we can win throughout a very difficult stretch coming up and show that we’re a very capable team."
Again, going full must-win feels like a stretch. The Warriors themselves are teetering on the edges there.
The Phoenix Suns are another team they’re supposed to beat Tuesday at Chase Center. They’ll be favorites to beat the Sacramento Kings the next day too, even on the second night of a back-to-back. These are chances for bad habits to be corrected and momentum to be created again in time for a date in Denver against the Nuggets on Friday.
The Warriors can get revenge at home against the Pacers in a week on Sunday, and then it’s time for a six-game road trip that begins with games against the two best teams in the West right now: The undefeated reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder (6-0), and two against the undefeated San Antonio Spurs (5-0).
Last season’s spiral after early success hasn’t been forgotten. The Warriors want to create the identity of a champion now and build as the season evolves. There is no time to wait in getting back on track, and they know it.