Getty Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors and Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Golden State Warriors are looking to make some noise in the playoffs, but in order to do that, they have to get there first. They’ve put themselves in a tricky position due to their inability to win games on the road. And with how close the Western Conference standings are, they don’t have much room for error.
On Saturday night, they fumbled on the road once again. They dropped their game against the Memphis Grizzlies, as things weren’t even close after the first quarter. After the game, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr showed love to Jaren Jackson Jr. for his performance.
“Yeah, I thought Jaren played a great game tonight,” Kerr said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “I thought he was aggressive [and] he was scoring in the lane. Knocked down a few threes as well. But he had it going tonight, for sure.”
Jackson Jr. absolutely dominated the Warriors on both ends of the court. The All-Star ended the night with 31 points, seven rebounds, and three assists on 12-of-22 shooting from the field and 3-of-9 shooting from behind the three-point line.
On top of that, Jackson Jr. also recorded four blocks, stifling the Warriors all night long. The big man is one of the favorites to take home this season’s Defensive Player of the Year award.
Steve Kerr Shows Love to Jonathan Kuminga
For the Warriors, no one could get things going outside of Jonathan Kuminga, who scored a team-high 24 points. After the game, Kerr praised the young forward.
“Yeah, JK [Kuminga] was great,” Kerr said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “He played both ends. Knocked down his threes. Rebounded well. That was the biggest thing. That’s the thing that we’re looking for all the time. He had eight rebounds tonight. Three offensive. If he adds that to his game consistently, it’ll change everything for him. And so, we’re gonna stay on him about that. And he’s a young guy, so he’s learning so much every single day, and he’s making strides. So, very happy with his development.
Steve Kerr Sounds Off on Stephen Curry
As for Stephen Curry, he struggled with his shot against Memphis, failing to turn in an efficient performance. After the contest, Kerr spoke about what went wrong for Curry against the Grizzlies, attributing the performance to the schedule catching up to him.
“I thought the schedule kind of caught up a little bit to Steph,” Kerr said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “Back-to-back. I think [it was the] third [game] in four nights. A lot of travel. The first game he’s had since he’s been back that he didn’t shoot well. And [Dillon] Brooks did a good job defensively. But all in all, it felt like Steph’s legs just weren’t quite there tonight. And it’s going to happen. At 35, there are going to be some nights where, especially on a back-to-back with a lot of travel involved, flying across the country, all that stuff, sometimes it catches up to you when you’re a little older. But he’ll be fine.”
