In the Balance

 Draymond Green's indefinite suspension adds a new level of uncertainty to the Golden State Warriors season and likely the future of this particular team.  The chaos in the system has increased, which is not often a good thing.  

Yes, opposing players who know Green's weak points do bait him (and feign sorrow and empathy afterwards) and yes, officials are hard on him and make questionable calls.  But his behavior is his behavior, and he and the Warriors own it.

As for the team in general, General Manager Dunleavy said that the next 20 games will tell the tale as to whether big (that is, personnel) changes must be made.  Right now on the court, the only thing consistent about the Warriors is losing.  They lose in a different way each game.  At Phoenix, Klay Thompson had a bad game and Steph Curry a bad shooting second half, and they lost by the points Dray gave away on his fatal fouls.  Against the Clippers, Klay was on fire for 30 points but Wiggins had a bad night and Steph had his second bad shooting game in a row. Various bench players look extremely good one game and fade the next.  The Dubs have given away games with turnovers and fouls (the most recent OKC game) and lost games in which they had few turnovers and fouls.  They seldom lose by much (two recent games by 1 point; others by 2 or 3.)  But they do find a way to lose.

Everything is up for grabs now, for even a wild card or play-in looks remote at this point.  The hope that 2021-22 can be replicated--serial chaos during the season, but finishing strong--looks like a remote possibility.  If changes are made, they may be for the future, not this year.  In any case, the Warriors are up against it.  The pressure is on to start winning, which may make winning harder.  The rest of the league is happy to beat up on the Warriors, and nobody pities them.  They've been dominant for too long.  But starting to win is the only remedy for what ails them.  The season and the future are in the balance.