Curry says beaten Warriors need to be ‘more in sync as a five-man unit’

Stephen Curry says the Golden State Warriors “have to be more in sync as a five-man unit” after going down to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.

The Warriors hold the second-best record in the NBA at 43-19 but their 129-114 reverse was a sixth defeat in eight games for Steve Kerr’s out-of-sorts team.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said he saw a “breakdown in our connection” against the Timberwolves, a fact that perhaps should not be altogether too surprising.

Draymond Green has missed 24 straight games, while Andre Iguodala has been absent for 15 of the past 16. Superstar Klay Thompson returned from two straight serious injuries on January 9 but has restrictions on his minutes.

Moses Moody started in place of Thompson against the Timberwolves only to suffer an eye injury and exit the game in the second quarter.

The consequence has been Kerr being forced to mix up his starting five, and Curry concedes the chemistry is not quite there for the Warriors.

“We have a lot of different rotations and lineups and we try to make adjustments on the fly. We have to be more in sync as a five-man unit,” Curry said.

“We’ve had a lot of shuffling. It’s not an excuse for how we’re playing, but we are built as a full team. And until we get that, I’m not sure if we’ll see our full ceiling, but we have to do the little things in the meantime to keep building confidence.

“I’m just trying to stay patient in terms of where we are in the season and what we are trying to do in a month and a half.”

The Warriors have the opportunity to return to winning ways when they visit the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.