Once upon a time -- about two weeks ago, actually -- Golden State was considered one of the up-and-coming teams in the NBA.

The high-scoring Warriors were off to a 17-13 start and seemed capable of contending for the Pacific Division championship.

Combined with the fact that Golden State won 14 of its final 19 games last season -- after newly acquired point guard Baron Davis was inserted into the starting lineup -- few doubted the Warriors were headed toward the playoffs for the first time in 12 years.

"We have the talent, we have the personnel to do it," Davis said in the preseason. "I definitely see that burden being lifted."

In fact, Davis said, "It's scary what we could do."

Right now, the Warriors are scary.

Scary bad.

Going into the weekend, Golden State had lost 12 of its previous 17 games, including five in a row.

Most recently, the Warriors were embarrassed in consecutive losses to Miami (110-96) and Phoenix (112-99). In those games, the Heat shot 59 percent, the Suns 51.8.

Therein lies Golden State's biggest problem.

The Warriors are defenseless.

They couldn't stop a statue.

Prior to Saturday night's game

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against the Lakers, the Warriors ranked 23rd in the NBA in scoring defense. In their previous 17 games, opponents averaged 107 points.

Miami shredded the Warriors.

Dwyane Wade scored 32 points, handed out 11 assist and made 13 of his 19 field-goal attempts.

Antoine Walker came off the bench to score 19 points. He was 5-for-7 on three-pointers, most of which were attempted without a defender in the same area code.

"We are scrambling a little bit," Golden State coach Mike Montgomery said. "We're scuffling a little bit. I don't think we know exactly what we need to do."

Guard Jason Richardson certainly didn't know how to stop Wade, who had 14 points in the first 13 minutes.

"My job is to help the team win," Richardson said. "I didn't defend. I didn't score. I take the blame for this loss."

Said Montgomery: "We need to get some confidence in ourselves. We need to play the kind of basketball we can play. Sometimes I think we worry too much about wins and losses. Maybe we've got stuck on that a little bit, rather than just going out and playing good basketball."

The good news?

Golden State's defensive shortcomings and losing streak have not dropped the Warriors too far behind in the Western Conference playoff race.

"It's not the end of the world," Richardson said. "We're still right there. Of course we're not playing at the level we're capable of and winning games we're capable of winning. However, it's not the end of the world and it's not the end of the season. We can change things around."

Vintage Davis will help.

Battling the flu, he scored 26 points against Miami. But he managed only seven in the second half. He also handed out only six assists.

Even though Davis averages 9.3 assists, he's gone seven straight games without getting as many as 10, prior to facing the Lakers.

Golden State also needs help inside.

Veteran Adonal Foyle is playing so poorly that Montgomery has given rookie power forward Ike Diogu the job as Golden State's starting center.

Diogu, the No. 9 pick in last year's draft, missed the first 12 games of the season because of a broken hand. But he's played well lately, though he was overmatched against Miami's Shaquille O'Neal.

No disgrace there.

Told by teammate Troy Murphy that the best way to prepare for O'Neal would be to put his car in neutral "and push it around Pleasanton," Diogu picked up two fouls in the first 61/2 minutes.

He still finished with six points and five rebounds, even though the Warriors lost.

Again.