PHOENIX -- If there's one thing the Warriors should be thankful for after their first four games of the 2022-23 NBA season, it's that they played the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night.
Since that season-opening win, they have dropped two of their last three games, with the latest being a 134-105 smacking of a beatdown by the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night at Footprint Center. The Warriors' distasteful recipe of defeats has a commonality: Defense. Or lack thereof.
Even in their win over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night, the Warriors nearly blew a 26-point lead and allowed 125 points. In their last three games, they have allowed 382 combined points -- good for more than 127 points per game.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
"We are going to have to build our identity and we are nowhere close to where we need to be right now," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the loss. "We are a very poor defensive team, and that doesn't win in this league."
So, what's the main problem?
Just as he has stated the last few days, Kerr went back to transition defense. He also called out the Warriors' inability to play defense without fouling. Yes, he, Draymond Green and even Andrew Wiggins expressed their frustrations with the referees throughout the game. But it doesn't all fall on those in stripes.
In the first quarter, the Suns took 12 free throws compared to only three by the Warriors. In the end, Phoenix doubled Golden State's shots from the charity stripe, 34 to 17. The Suns also made 15 more free throws than the Warriors, and that was all the difference in the loss to Kerr.
Golden State Warriors
Find the latest Golden State Warriors news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
He turned to the Warriors being late in rotations for their tendency to foul too much.
"If you're a half-step late in this league, the opponent is too good," Kerr said. "They're going to be at the rim, and your only chance is to be physical and you end up fouling."
Another area the Warriors' defense has been lacking is communication. They aren't a connected chain right now. There are too many cracks, and that starts with being on the same page.
And that doesn't all fall on new players like JaMychal Green and Donte DiVincenzo, who was out Tuesday night with a hamstring injury, but produced a 120 defensive rating in his first three games. It also isn't only a problem with young players like James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody.
Strong individual defense is obvious. It jumps off the screen. Defense also takes more than one or two players. It's a group project, one that requires detail and effort from all five players on the floor.
"I wouldn't just say the new guys," Kerr said. "I think communication overall is bad. We had a stretch late in the first half where we were kind of trading buckets and we had our small lineup out there with Jordan [Poole], Steph [Curry], Klay [Thompson], Draymond [Green] and [Andrew Wiggins] and we gave up a layup on a missed switch and then a 3-point corner shot when we didn't trust the switch on back to back plays.
"That's just a break in communication. It's a big problem for our team, not just the young guys."
For the final two minutes and 25 seconds of the first half, the Warriors and Suns traded buckets until the Suns forced a shot clock violation and responded with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Chris Paul going into halftime. The particular sequence Kerr called out involved a Mikal Bridges dunk, followed by a 3-pointer by Cam Johnson.
First, the dunk was pure miscommunication by Curry and Poole. Green throws his hands up for how easy it was, and Curry immediately takes out his mouth piece to talk with Poole and figure out what went wrong. Johnson's triple also was the result of defense by Curry and Poole, with the onus being on Poole. Bridges essentially is pinning down Curry, but Poole stops for a second as if Curry was going to fight through the screen and contest the shot. Poole is late and Johnson is wide open.
Three points for him, and a five-point lead for the Suns.
Draymond is taking it upon himself to make sure these problems don't continue much longer.
"The commitment to defense isn't there," he said. "That's something that we have to be better at, and it starts with me. I'll make sure we get there. Right now, we're a decent offensive team and a bad defensive team.
"I don’t expect that to be the case, and I know that is something we can change but we just have to commit to building."
RELATED: Klay's ejection vs. Suns could wake Warriors from slumber
Starting Thursday night at Chase Center vs. the Miami Heat, the commitment to that side of the ball has to be there for the reigning champions. They can't wait for that commitment to begin, too. In the Warriors' last three contests, they have opened the first quarter by allowing 40, 36 and 37 points.
For the first time in franchise history, the Warriors now have allowed at least 70 first-half points in three straight games.
Energy, effort, focus and communication. All boxes need to be checked on the Warriors' defensive to-do list.
So far, they are blank squares waiting to be filled.