We all acknowledge that as the Warriors feel their way toward the playoffs this year, there will be some stumbles. Well, there are stumbles and then there are the kind of STUMBLES that make you realize this may have been the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

Last Wednesday against the defending NBA champeen San Antonio Spurs, the Warriors were stripped buck naked and exposed as pretenders. The Spurs absolutely had their way with the shell-shocked tribe. Can you say "low bridge"? It's pronounced Spurs 113 Warriors 89.

This was the War-wearies first truly vicious beatdown of the season thus far, and it was the kind of drubbing that can rattle a team just starting to believe. Like the Clippers game last week, this game was supposed to be a benchmark against which the War-heads could mark their progress toward competitive respectability. Nobody really expected them to win the game, but it would have been nice if they hadn't played that way.

It was like watching a lowlight reel of the last five years of Warriors basketball. Matador D, feeble rebounding (Spurs 52, Warriors 27), total lack of frontcourt presence (Spurs 60 points in the paint, Warriors 36), barely a nod to any kind of set offense, poor shot selection, and even poorer shooting (54.9 percent for the Spurs, 37.7 percent for the Warriors). The Warriors have committed themselves to living by the Baron and dying by the Baron this year, and against the Spurs, the Baron was awful (3-12 from the field and a technical foul) and the War-jacks done died. The entire team was impatient, unspirited, and completely overwhelmed. It was a startling flashback to reality.

SFist Chris "The Truthmaker" Contributing

Image from Street Art Gallery