Steve Kerr wants to let his teamwork through issues on its own.
He wants to trust that the Golden State Warriors’ past success will allow them to find a groove this season.
But as an uneven start continues, the Warriors’ coach said he might need to start adjusting to try to shake his team from its recent malaise.
Though the Warriors are coming off a 110-106 win over Portland on Wednesday, they’re 5-10 since Nov. 5 heading into Friday night’s matchup with the host Oklahoma City Thunder.
While starters Draymond Green (five games, suspension) and Andrew Wiggins (two games due to right finger soreness) have missed time recently, Golden State’s typical starting five of those two plus Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevon Looney have struggled when they have been together.
While the Warriors haven’t found stability, the Thunder have plenty.
Oklahoma City is coming off a 110-101 road loss to Houston on Wednesday but has won two of its last three games and eight of its last 11.
One of the outliers, though, is third-year guard Josh Giddey.
Giddey is averaging a career-low 11.8 points per game and shooting 42 percent from the field after averaging 16.6 points and shooting 48.2 from the field a year ago.
Giddey, who is at the center of an NBA and police investigation into an alleged relationship with a minor, was just 3 of 11 from the floor with eight points in Wednesday’s loss.
Giddey is shooting better than 50 percent from the floor against the Warriors this season.
Friday’s game will be the fourth and final meeting this season between the Warriors and Thunder. The game was added to the schedule after neither team qualified for the knockout rounds of the NBA in-season tournament.
The Thunder have won two of three from Golden State this season, including a 130-123 overtime win in their most recent meeting, Nov. 18 in San Francisco.
An Oklahoma City win would give the Thunder their first season-series victory over the Warriors since the 2019-20 campaign.
