The Golden State Warriors ended up being a part of history on Wednesday night against the Utah Jazz (and in the worst possible way). As relayed by ESPN Stats & Info, the Jazz held a record of 1-718 over the last 25 seasons when trailing by four-plus points inside the final 10 seconds of the fourth quarter.
Now, they’re 2-718, as the Dubs somehow allowed a 123-119 lead with just a handful of ticks remaining to turn into a 124-123 loss.
As one might expect, the events that led to the improbable defeat left Warriors coach Steve Kerr with an air of surliness during his postgame presser.
“You watched it,” Kerr said almost combatively when asked about the game-deciding sequence. “You’re asking me what happened, you just watched the game. We didn’t take care of the ball, we turned it over and they took the game. And it’s a shame because our guys did a lot of great stuff. I thought to that point they really fought and earned the right to win the game and then we didn’t close it and you gotta close it.
“You gotta be rock solid with the ball. You gotta be smart defensively and we were neither of those things the last 13 seconds.”
What Happened to the Dubs Down the Stretch?
With the game knotted at 119 and just under a minute left in regulation, second-year man Jonathan Kuminga entered clutch mode to give the Warriors an advantage. First, he snaked his way into the paint for a cutting dunk to give Golden State a two-point advantage with 35.9 seconds remaining. Then, on the ensuing possession, he bodied up Jordan Clarkson, rejecting the Jazz guard on a floater attempt.
In the immediate aftermath of the swat, Clarkson was clearly upset over the contact on the play and Kuminga’s overall aggressiveness, and his retaliatory actions resulted in a flagrant-two call, a pair of free throws for Kuminga and possession for Kerr’s crew.
Alas, Kuminga only made 1-of-2 at the line, and the final 24.9 seconds played out as follows:
Klay Thompson caught a quick double-team after the inbounds, resulting in a takeaway steal by big man Kelly Olynyk. Coming back the other way, the Warriors were able to get a stop on a Simone Fontecchio three-point attempt. That prompted Utah to foul Jordan Poole, freezing the game clock at 13.3.
Poole then followed Kuminga’s lead by splitting the free throws, after which a driving Nickeil Alexander-Walker found Malik Beasley for a three-point bomb to cut the lead to one with just 6.9 seconds left. On the very next play, Alexander-Walker stole the ball from Poole (with help from Olynyk and Beasley), which resulted in a game-winning dunk in transition for Fontecchio.
Kuminga Was Still Sensational
While the result was not what the Warriors wanted — and his missed free throw was ill-timed at best — Kuminga’s overall play against the Jazz made a big impression on Coach Kerr.
“JK was tremendous tonight; fantastic,” raved Kerr after the loss. “He continued his recent play as far as defense and running the floor and really being solid, but he added the scoring, getting to the rim, posting up a couple times… Fantastic defensive play down the stretch you know when he blocked uh Clarkson’s shot and then got fouled.
“Yeah, JK was magnificent.”
The former No. 7 overall pick saw 30 minutes of action against the Jazz, scoring 24 points (12 of which came during the final frame) on 10-of-13 shooting. He also added five rebounds, four assists, a steal and the aforementioned block. As a result, the Dubs outscored Utah by eight when he was on the floor.
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Warriors Coach Steve Kerr Goes on Fiery Rant After Jaw-Dropping Finish