In a fitting tribute to Dejan Milojević, the Golden State Warriors achieved an emotional 129-107 win on February 13 in their return to Salt Lake City where the assistant coach tragically died of a heart attack last month.
Klay Thompson turned back the clock with a vintage 26-point performance while Stephen Curry added 25 as the Warriors coped with their grief by doing what they know best.
They dominated the Utah Jazz 129-107 on Monday, February 12, just a few hours after Milojević’s memorial service in Serbia.
“We knew this trip was going to be tough all the way around, just the emotions coming back to a place where it happened, but it was definitely weird without Steve [Kerr],” Curry said via NBA.com. “It helped us to acknowledge and celebrate what they were doing and where they were at, and where they should have been. And then our ability to go out and allow the game to honor (Milojević) was good.”
Kerr skipped the game as he and several of the Warriors coaching staff and front office members attended Milojević’s memorial service in the Serbian coach’s homeland. Assistant coaches Chris DeMarco and Ron Adams along with general manager Mike Dunleavy, Zaza Pachulia and vice president of player health and performance Rick Celebrini joined Kerr on the trip.
Kenny Atkinson Pays Tribute to Steve Kerr’s Leadership
Kenny Atkinson, Kerr’s top assistant, was left to coach the Warriors. And the former Brooklyn Nets head coach led the Warriors to their fifth straight win.
“It’s strange,” Atkinson told reporters when asked how different the game was without Kerr and most of their coaching staff. “Steve’s our leader. He leads the staff. He did a phenomenal job leading us through a really tough time and I didn’t say that pregame but the support from the organization gave us the support we needed to get through this tough time.
And then Steve, he’s the best at communicating. He’s got great empathy. He’s had a lot on his play but I thought he did a phenomenal job leading us through this. And then I think we got closer through this and that’s that’s not the way you want to become closer obviously but we became closer even more together than before.”
The Warriors improved to 8-3 since Milojević’s untimely death.
Klay Thompson Open to Reduced Role to Stay with Warriors
Thompson hit 11 of 19 as he rebounded from a tough five-point outing in their thrilling win over Phoenix on February 10.
Before the game, The Ringer’s Logan Murdock ran a story that revealed Thompson is open to a reduced role to stay with the Warriors beyond this season.
“Yeah, there’s nothing wrong with that,” Thompson told Murdock. “I’ll be 35 next year. At 35, coming off the ACL and an Achilles [tear] and still have the ability to be a really good player. Maybe not the guy who scored 60 in three quarters and scored an NBA record 37 points in a quarter, but still a great threat out there. I’ve modeled my game after Reggie [Miller] and Ray [Allen], and those guys were incredibly effective until their late 30s. So I plan on kind of following that mold.”
The 34-year-old Thompson will become an unrestricted free agent after this season.
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Warriors Cope With Grief Over Dejan Milojević’s Loss The Way They Know Best