Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr cut a frustrated figure following their 114-109 loss to the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday. The Pacers were 0-5 coming into this contest, but dominated down the stretch to hand the Warriors their second-straight shocking defeat.
The Warriors had lost 120-110 to the Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Milwaukee Bucks last time out on Thursday, and postgame, Kerr lamented the fact that they had blown two games they should have won.
“We know the West is loaded, and it feels like we just gave away two games,” Kerr said, via Anthony Slater. “If we are locked in and focused and playing the way we know we can play, we should have won them… We have to find a way to be sharper and to be better.
“There’s going to be some tough nights,” Kerr continued. “I mean, there are always tough nights during the season; this should not have been one of them. We had the day off yesterday. We didn’t shootaround this morning, we had plenty of rest. But the execution down the stretch was awful, and it’s a shame because our young guys played their a** off to get us the 11-point lead.
“Gui [Santos], Moses [Moody], [Brandin Podziemski], those guys were fantastic,” Kerr added. “They completely flipped the game when I put them in. They did their job, and we just couldn’t close.”
Kerr had high praise for the youngsters, but he clearly didn’t seem happy with the veterans, considering they were well rested.
The Warriors seemed headed to victory when they led 104-93 with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but then fell apart. The Pacers went on a 21-5 run to close the game, and Kerr was asked what went wrong for his team in that stretch.
“Everything went wrong,” Kerr stated. “We didn’t execute on offense, we didn’t execute on defense, we fouled, we turned it over. We didn’t deserve it. They played great.”
Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green all coughed up the ball at points during that Pacers run. The Warriors needed their veterans to get them over the line, but they came up short.
Curry had 24 points (8-23 FG), two assists, and one steal on the night as the Warriors dropped to 4-3. He hoisted up 16 threes against the Pacers and only made four of them.
Butler fared better than the two-time MVP, putting up 20 points (6-14 FG), six rebounds, seven assists, three steals, and two blocks. As for Green, he recorded eight points (2-5 FG), 10 rebounds, and one assist.
You had expected a strong reaction from the Warriors here after that loss to the Bucks. Kerr had pointed out how they have struggled when opposing teams are without their stars in recent years, and that proved to be the case here as well.
The Pacers were without the likes of Tyrese Haliburton, Obi Toppin, Bennedict Mathurin, T.J. McConnell, and Andrew Nembhard on the night. They should never have been able to get the win with all those players out.
The Warriors allowed both Aaron Nesmith and Quenton Jackson to record career-highs in points, as they finished with 31 and 25, respectively. Pascal Siakam also had 27 points, and you’re in for a rough night if you allow three players on the opposition to hit the 25-point mark.
All in all, this was a terrible loss, and you wonder if this proves to be the kick up the backside that this Warriors team needed. They’ll be in action next against the Phoenix Suns at Chase Center on Tuesday at 10 PM ET.
