Warriors’ Steve Kerr Sends Blunt Message After Two Costly Defeats

The Golden State Warriors entered this week needing wins badly. The schedule appeared to offer exactly that. Two games against teams near the bottom of the Western Conference standings, both very much within reach. Two opportunities to stabilise a season that has been testing everyone’s patience.

They lost both.

A 119-116 defeat to the Utah Jazz on Monday night in Salt Lake City was painful enough. The Jazz sat their second-leading scorer Keyonte George for the final 15 minutes of a tied game. Golden State still could not pull it out. Then came Tuesday night at Chase Center, where the Warriors held an eight-point lead with 91 seconds left in regulation against the Chicago Bulls and watched it disappear. Matas Buzelis finished with a career-high 41 points. The final score was 130-124 in overtime.

After the dust settled, Steve Kerr said exactly what everyone in the building was thinking.

Kerr Gets Honest After Warriors’ Tough Week

Kerr did not hide from the results.

“Both very winnable games,” Kerr said. “We had the lead late tonight, obviously one we should have had. But this is how the NBA is, especially when you’re beaten up. You’re not going to blow anybody out. Games are going to be tight. You got to finish, and we didn’t finish either of the last two nights.”

The finish against Chicago came apart in two key moments. LJ Cryer missed a free throw late in regulation that would have given Golden State a three-point cushion. Then Draymond Green fouled Bulls center Jalen Smith with just over a second remaining, with the Warriors leading by two. Smith made both. Overtime. The Warriors never recovered.

Kerr took responsibility for the Green situation afterward. “It was a foul. I watched the replay, and I’m sure he’d like to have that one back. He just got his hand in the wrong spot. I threw him out there for a couple of defensive possessions because I know how good he is on that end, but he wasn’t exactly loose and in the flow.”

It was an honest assessment from a coach who understands the reality of where his team stands.

What the Losses Mean for the Warriors’ Playoff Picture

The back-to-back defeats dropped Golden State to 32-33, below .500 for the first time since December 20. The Warriors sit ninth in the Western Conference, one game behind the eighth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers.

The seeding matters more than it might appear. The seventh and eighth seeds in the play-in tournament get two chances to qualify for the playoffs. The ninth and tenth seeds face a single-elimination scenario. Kerr had addressed the stakes directly before Tuesday’s game.

“It’s a big deal,” Kerr said. “There’s a reason the league did that. Seven, eight you get two cracks at it. Huge advantage. So it’s definitely a focus of ours.”

Pat Spencer echoed that reality after the loss. “It’s the difference between having to win one game versus having to win two games. You’ve got to be realistic. It’s much easier getting into that seven-eight game than the nine-ten.”

The Warriors are doing this without Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Moses Moody. De’Anthony Melton was scratched before Tuesday’s game with an adductor issue. The margin for error was already thin. Back-to-back losses to the Jazz and Bulls made it thinner.

Final Word for Golden State

The Jazz and Bulls have a combined 83 losses this season. Golden State dropped both games anyway. That is the uncomfortable truth sitting in the Chase Center locker room on Wednesday morning.

Kerr is right that the Warriors are beaten up. The absences are real and the depth has been stretched to its limits. But games against teams incentivised to lose are the ones you have to win.

They did not. Seventeen games remain to sort it out.

The clock is running.

Keith Watkins Keith Watkins is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, and Los Angeles Lakers. He previously wrote for FanSided, NBA Analysis Network, and Last Word On Sports. Keith is based in Bangkok, Thailand. More about Keith Watkins