The Warriors were different tonight, and Steve Kerr couldn’t stand it. It certainly didn’t seem like a team that had a 14-2 record in the Jimmy Butler era. The Denver Nuggets stepped on Chase Center’s floor with purpose after suffering an embarrassing defeat against the last-seeding Wizards. Notably, the Mile-High City team could do it in the absence of their two offensive machines, Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray. Surprising, right? There’s another sweeping surprise as well. 

So, the Warriors weren’t locked in. The Nuggets cruised the Dubs’ defense effortlessly and kept the scoreboard ticking. Meanwhile, Stephen Curry & Co. struggled to protect the ball, throwing away a ton of turnovers. At one point, cameras caught Coach Kerr losing his cool. A video clip of the 9x NBA Champion screaming at his coaching staff surfaced online.

While it was obvious that Steve Kerr was upset with his team’s performance, a 95.7 The Game host, Marc Grandi, gave a surprising reason. Yes, he blamed Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray‘s absence for Kerr’s outburst. In the past, the Dubs coach had stated that he would hate it when the opposing players miss out on games because it makes it harder to get his lock-in, as per Grandi.

“No, no sense of urgency… there was no… no good energy, no good body language. Feeling sorry for ourselves early, it was a tough night.”

Steve Kerr didn’t sugarcoat it. His frustration was evident, and his words only reinforced what Grandi had pointed out. The Warriors simply didn’t bring the fight, and Kerr made sure to call it out.

With the Warriors battling for playoff positioning, there’s no room for complacency. Sitting at the 6th seed, they’re walking a fine line—just a couple of losses could send them tumbling into the Play-In Tournament. And with the Minnesota Timberwolves riding an 8-game winning streak, the pressure is on.

Fortunately for Golden State, they caught a break tonight. The Wolves fell to the Pacers in a nail-biting overtime thriller, giving the Dubs some much-needed breathing room. Now, it’s up to them to capitalize and stay ahead in the race.

Steve Kerr’s Dubs put up an embarrassing show

The Warriors had a sloppy game, tanking in three particular areas. Earlier in the season, the team barely made their free-throw count and even dropped down to the last spot. But after the entry of Jimmy Butler, the team’s FT efficiency certainly improved. In numbers, the team was in the last spot with 72.0% FT before Butler and moved to the #1 spot with 85.3% since his return. 

However, tonight, the team seemed to have forgotten everything, as they recorded an embarrassing 55.6% FT. Secondly, the perimeter shooting was a disaster. The team made 33 attempts behind the line and could sink only 8, exactly seven 3-pointers lesser than the Nuggets. 

Finally, the turnovers. They conceded 20 of them. Even though it was two less than the Denver side. Some of them came at the crucial juncture of the game. The turnovers proved the team wasn’t focused. Notably, during the game, ESPN released a snippet from the Warriors’ huddle. In that, Kerr can be stressing the players to make simple plays and passes. 

Stephen Curry and Draymond Green didn’t take the advice seriously. With 3-odd minutes left in the game, the Warriors made a serious run to cut the lead to 3. For the first time, it looked like the Dubs had a chance. Unfortunately, Steph blew it with a poor lob pass to Kuminga and Dray threw away a steal, throwing straight into the opponent’s hands with a long pass.

Guess what? This all led to an embarrassing 114-105 loss. Speaking of the loss, Kerr said, “We got what we deserved.” What do you make of it? Let us know in the comments.