Steve Kerr had a particularly blunt assessment of how the Golden State Warriors played in a blowout loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
Facing their most important test in weeks and looking to maintain the momentum of the first three-game winning streak all season, the Warriors fell flat from the opening tip-off in a game that was never competitive. The Lakers had built a 29-point lead at halftime en route to a 117-91 victory, and after the game the Warriors coach had no qualms in saying they stunk.
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Kerr Ready to Move on
After the game, Kerr said he was surprised at just how badly his team lost, but added that he didn’t want to spend too much time dwelling on it.
“This was very, very surprising for me. But I’ve been in the league long enough to know, too, there’s going to be a handful of games every year that are sort of inexplicable, and this is one you don’t spend too much time on,” he said, via Nick Friedell on Twitter.
Steve Kerr trying to fire up the Dubs 👏
Kerr then added some colorful language about the team’s play and how he intended to proceed.
“You flush the toilet and you move on,” he said.
Warriors Face Difficult Stretch
The team appeared to take Kerr’s lead in flushing and forgetting the performance. Steph Curry struck an optimistic tone about the team’s play, suggesting that they would be able to bounce back quickly.
“Our confidence is high, and our resiliency has always been there,” he told reporters after the game.
Even during the team’s three-game winning streak, Kerr hinted that they were not satisfied with the level of play. He said that was evident after the team’s win over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday.
“I kind of like the fact that nobody in the locker room was really that happy with the way we played,” Kerr said after the win, via ESPN.
He added: “The locker room’s quiet, that’s a good sign. We’ve won three in a row and nobody’s that happy. We know we can play better and it’s a sign that we think there’s more to come.”
After a dreadful 2019-20 season, the Warriors have jumped back into playoff contention and ended the night on Sunday in eighth place in the Western Conference, just one game out of fifth place.
The tilt against the Lakers kicked off what looks to be Golden State’s most difficult stretch of the season, with the Warriors facing five of the conference’s top six teams. The team has upcoming road games against the Trail Blazers and Suns before taking a week off for the All-Star break and returning for games against the Clippers, Jazz, and Lakers.
The Warriors will have to enter the stretch with a potential injury to a key player, however. Draymond Green left Sunday’s loss midway through the second quarter after spraining his left ankle, though Kerr believed it was not too serious.
Steve Kerr said Draymond Green told him at halftime he didn’t think his ankle sprain “was too bad.”
Green will have two days to rest the ankle before the team is back in action against Portland.
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Steve Kerr Has Colorful Metaphor for Warriors’ Play in Blowout Loss