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The Golden State Warriors will aim for the fifth straight win against the Utah Jazz on Monday, February 12, without head coach Steve Kerr, the team announced.
Kerr is in Serbia, along with general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. and several members of the coaching staff attending Dejan Milojević‘s memorial service.
Kenny Atkinson, Kerr’s top assistant, will serve as the Warriors acting head coach.
Milojevic, 46, died on January 17 after suffering a heart attack during a private team dinner in Salt Lake City.
The Serbian coach joined Kerr’s coaching staff in 2021 following his Montenegrin League championship run earlier that year. Prior to that, he spent eight seasons coaching in Belgrade and was also an assistant coach for the Serbian national team in 2019.
While coaching in Serbia, Milojević also joined the coaching staff of several NBA Summer League teams (Atlanta Hawks in 2016, San Antonio Spurs in 2017 and Houston Rockets in 2018).
Milojević played professionally for 15 years in Europe before embarking on a coaching career. The 6-foot-7 Serbian coach worked with the Warriors’ big men under Kerr. He was part of the Warriors’ 2022 championship team.
The Warriors have won their last four games to even their record to 25-25 and get back in the play-in picture with the 10th seed. Trailing them at 11th place are the 26-27 Jazz, who have lost four of their last six games.
Stephen Curry’s Game Winner Frustrates Kevin Durant, Suns
Kevin Durant watched Stephen Curry, his former co-star at Golden State, beat him and the Suns with a game-winning 3 he knew was coming.
“We were this close to the steal but that’s the NBA,” Durant told reporters after Curry buried the game-winner in the Warriors’ 113-112 squeaker over the Suns on Saturday, February 10. “It’s a game of chance and that’s all [Curry] needs and he’s an all-time great — the greatest ever at his position, top five in the world, I mean top five ever. You give him a look like that for the game, he’s licking his chops. I still think we could’ve had that steal. It’s a tough play. Sometimes guys are just that great.”
Curry’s 27-footer in the thriller just came out naturally from him.
“It’s just muscle memory,” Curry told reporters afterward. “Just shoot it and you live with it and thankfully it worked out.”
It was Curry’s 10th game-winner in his career, adding another signature moment to his Hall of Fame ledger.
Draymond Green-Jusuf Nurkic Round 2
There was no love lost when Warriors forward Draymond Green and Suns center Jusuf Nurkic met for the first time since the smacking incident on January 12 which led to Green’s 12-game suspension.
The two big men exchanged heated words and taunts during the Warriors’ thrilling victory.
“It’s sad,” Nurkic told reporters after the game. “He didn’t learn anything. It’s just a matter of time. He’s going to knock somebody else again. I take everything back, what I said. He doesn’t deserve a chance.”
“Just his antics,” Nurkic said of why he believed Green did not deserve a second chance. “Try to hit people. The stuff he shouldn’t do, but I don’t care. At the end of the day, he tried to play that way. No one is worried about him. They got the win tonight. We’ll see what happens in a few games.”
Green also did not mince words when asked for comment about Nurkic’s postgame thoughts.
“He tried to get in my head and it didn’t work,” Green told reporters. “If he wants me to walk around quiet like him, I’m never gonna do that. Quiet guys don’t win. So yeah, I thought I was pretty great tonight. He can keep riding the same horse that he rode in on — he can ride his ass on out of here on the same horse. It ain’t working.”
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