The Warriors nearly pulled off a major upset tonight as they almost defeated the Knicks without eight of their top players. The Knicks pulled off their biggest comeback of the season, as they were down by as many as 21 points at the beginning of the second quarter before rallying back down the stretch to pull off a 110-107 win.
During the second quarter of the game, a peculiar incident was caught on tape. Steve Kerr, the Warriors’ head coach, lost his temper on the sidelines after Brandin Podziemski overthrew a transition pass to Will Richard, who subsequently caused a turnover while trying to keep the ball in play.
In a rare outburst, Kerr began shouting at Will Richard from the sidelines before the Knicks eventually hit a three-point shot to make it a five-point swing in their favor.
“The ball matters! The ball is everything!” yelled Kerr from the sidelines as the audio was caught on camera.
What was once a 21-point lead was cut to 10 points with less than two minutes left in the first half. Consequently, Kerr called a timeout and was seen profusely enraged at the Warriors’ rookie, Will Richard.
Will Richard steal > overthrown pass by Podz > Turnover > Knicks 3 > Timeout by Steve Kerr:
“The ball matters! The ball is everything!” pic.twitter.com/PShTHSmDp7
— aly ✶ (@jinthirty) March 16, 2026
What Kerr said after that remains unclear, but he was visibly very upset with Richard, instead of Podziemski, who threw the errant pass. While fans on social media clamored over how outrageous that seems, Reggie Miller explained on the live broadcast.
“I’m not sure we’ve seen Steve Kerr this upset in a while. Remember, his top eight players are out. And he’s telling Will Richard, the ball means everything.”
“So even if your momentum takes you out of bounds and the turnover occurs there, that’s fine. But now this is a live-ball turnover, and this is a five-point swing, because what did the Knicks do? Come down and hit a three,” said Miller.
One would imagine, after seeing a moment like this in the game, that Kerr would be very unhappy with his team for choking a 21-point lead tonight.
But the Warriors’ head coach seemed pleased with his team’s performance, even though they failed to even attempt a game-tying shot at the end.
“Man, the guys were amazing during the whole game. We had some hiccups in the second quarter, too many turnovers, we got a little dribble-happy, and they got into us defensively. Could not ask for anything more. These guys are so fun to coach.”
“They’re playing so hard together. I just want them to be rewarded for their efforts. We’ve lost a few of these, but we’re going to keep fighting and keep getting better,” said Kerr in his opening remarks.
Moreover, he also expressed regret for shouting at Richard in a heated moment.
“Well, I thought he could have caught it well. It was a bad pass from BP: BP should have made a good pass for Will to get the dunk, which turns into a five-point swing. I was mad at Will… I thought he was trying to make an around-the-back pass for the score.”
“I was really upset with the whole team in the second quarter, that’s where the game got away from us. Too many turnovers, too many careless plays… I was upset with him, but I kind of regret losing my composure a little bit there. Because it’s my job to keep the guys going without so many players… A big part of winning a game like this is making good decisions and understanding how valuable the ball is.”
Kerr ended by conceding that it was Podziemski who put Richard in a tough spot, and he shouldn’t have gotten as mad as he did with the rookie.
Podziemski ended the game by leading all scorers for the Warriors with 25 points, six assists, five rebounds, and two steals. He shot 8-15 from the floor and 2-7 from beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, Richard finished with five points and two rebounds, going 2-3 from the field and 1-2 from behind the three-point line.
The Warriors extended their losing streak to five games as they fell to 32-35 for the season. They are now headed to Washington to face the Wizards tomorrow on the second night of a back-to-back.
Despite the loss tonight, there were many positive signs from the Warriors as well, since they took an early 21-point lead in this game. It will be interesting to see how Steve Kerr keeps up the team’s morale as Stephen Curry rehabs his way back to health.
