Starting a five-game road trip with contests against the Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons should be a positive. On Saturday, travel wasn't a friend to the Warriors.
The Warriors again started off slow, but came alive in the third quarter -- surprise, surprise -- and buckled down in the fourth. But their comeback wasn't enough in a 120-113 overtime loss to the Hornets at Spectrum Center.
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Steph Curry and Jordan Poole were the only two Warriors to get it going offensively. Curry put up 31 points, and Poole dropped 24 off the bench. However, they combined to go 7-for-24 on 3-pointers and the Warriors shot 29.5 percent from deep as a team.
The difference was the free-throw line. The Hornets made 24 free throws, which was twice as many as the Warriors' 12. The Warriors took only 16 free throws and the Hornets attempted 31. That can't happen.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors falling to 3-3 on the season.
Draymond Does It All
Down the stretch of the fourth quarter, the game turned into the Draymond Green Show. His block with two-and-half minutes left led to a go-ahead Curry layup. With a little over a minute left in regulation, he swiped P.J. Washington for a huge steal and then found Andrew Wiggins for an easy layup to go ahead by four points with one minute left.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, it wasn't enough.
The Hornets tied up in the final minute of regulation and pulled away in overtime. It wasn't due to a lack of Draymond's effort, though.
Golden State Warriors
Before fouling out with 22.9 seconds left in overtime, Green scored 12 points, along with eight rebounds and six assists. He also added three blocks. Over the Warriors' first six games of the season, Green now has scored in double figures four times.
He also is shooting 61.4 percent from the field.
Lesson For Two Young Dubs
After receiving a DNP (Did Not Play) in Thursday's win vs. the Miami Heat, Jonathan Kuminga entered Saturday's game in the final minute of the first quarter. The reason wasn't a good one. James Wiseman committed his third foul of the game in what was an ugly stint for the young center.
Twenty-four seconds later, Kuminga was the one called for a foul.
Wiseman didn't play another second. In under five minutes of action, he was called for three fouls, missed both of his shot attempts, was bullied by former second-round pick Nick Richards, failed to grab a rebound and was a minus-5 in plus-minus. That's a night to forget.
Kuminga's wasn't much better. As he continues to look for playing time, he was given only three minutes and didn't see any action in the second half.
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Sunday will be the second night of a back-to-back for the Warriors. Kerr likely will use a handful of his young players, and it could be a big opportunity for Wiseman and Kuminga to bounce back.
Hello, Ty Jerome
His game isn't the flashiest. It isn't going to make highlight reels. But the Warriors signed Ty Jerome for a reason.
They felt they could trust his NBA experience, and Saturday showed why.
Jerome again was given first-quarter minutes as Donte DiVincenzo remains out with a strained hamstring. He did exactly what Steve Kerr could have hoped for. In his first five minutes off the bench, Jerome scored seven points and was a plus-5.
The two-way player ended up playing 16 minutes off the bench, and took advantage of each one. Along with his seven points, he went 3-for-5 from the field, made his only 3-pointer and handed out two assists. Jerome also added a steal and a block.
Kerr will call his number more in this week-long road trip, and this had to be a confidence booster for Jerome and the coaching staff.