The Splash Brothers dry up against the Lakers

Given just how well their season has been going up until now, any defeat for the Golden State Warriors now becomes global news. The coverage on this occasion is even more widespread as the Bay Area champions fell victim to none other than the Lakers, who overcame them on the court in comprehensive fashion (with the LA team cruising to a +17 point victory). However, despite the surprising nature of the result, there are a number of statistics that help explain last night’s debacle.

1/18 three pointers converted by the Splash Brothers: Curry and Thompson have been a formidable downtown duo since 2011 and, until Sunday’s showdown, had never recorded as miserable a conversion ratio during their time together. To add to their 5.5% success rate from long-distance, the NBA’s usually most on-point shooters only managed 13/40 from closer range, resulting in a tally of 33 points. Throughout the rest of the season they have averaged 52.5 such points per game.

Curry and Thompson failed to sink any of their 17 catch and shoot attempts. The game also ended with a paltry return of 13.3% from efforts from wide court.

Against the odds. Before the encounter, ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI) gave the Warriors a 93% chance of winning.

Weaker teams are the Achilles heel. Whether or not it’s a matter of waning concentration levels, what can be taken from the reigning champions’ six defeats so far this season is that none of the sides they have lost to are among the ten best teams in the table: Mavericks (12), Blazers (13), Pistons (16), Bucks (21), Nuggets (24) and Lakers (29).