Steve Kerr walked into his postgame press conference after loss against the Sacramento Kings with two things on his mind: reassuring everyone that Stephen Curry’s ankle was nothing serious, and being honest about a Warriors performance that raised more questions than it answered ahead of Wednesday’s play-in game.
The first order of business was Curry, who was seen limping in the first quarter and drew an immediate timeout from Kerr. “I was worried it was his knee. I just saw him limping and came over and he said, ‘No, I’m fine — it’s just the ankle, I just tweaked it or something,’” Kerr said. He confirmed Curry is fine and the plan remains for him to play Sunday against the Clippers to continue building rhythm and conditioning.
On whether facing a likely play-in opponent on Sunday changes the game plan at all, Kerr acknowledged the tactical dimension. “Yeah, for sure. I’m sure for both teams,” he said, suggesting Golden State will be mindful of what they show Phoenix’s likely opponent ahead of a potential first-round matchup.
The bigger concern on Friday was a defense that simply wasn’t there for most of the night. “We were not good defensively. We had one good stretch in the game — the third quarter — where I thought we set a tone. Obviously Draymond got things stirred up a little bit, we needed that fire, that edge. But that was it. The other three quarters were really poor,” Kerr said.
A careless technical foul late in the game — a half-court heave after a timeout was called — drew a sharp response. “Obviously can’t do that. That hurt us and it’s just careless. We just got to be solid,” Kerr said. Gary Payton II was also ejected after picking up his second technical in the fourth quarter, compounding a night of self-inflicted damage.
On the Curry-Porzingis pairing, which is still in its earliest stages, Kerr was encouraged by what he saw. “They looked good together. I thought Al Horford looked really good too. We know they were good together in Boston — they’re smart players, they can play off each other, they can both go inside or out on offense, both protect the rim. It’s a good pairing,” he said.
Despite the loss and the lack of momentum heading into the play-in, Kerr wasn’t ready to write off his team’s chances. “I’ve got lots of hope. I think we can win two games because I know these guys and I believe in them. But I also know that we’re not where we need to be — we just showed that tonight,” he said. “Sunday I’d like to get more reps, have more focus, fewer mistakes, and we’ll have a couple of days to prepare and get after it.”
He also offered a notable shoutout to Gui Santos, whose development has been one of the quieter success stories of a turbulent Warriors season. “Gui’s had a great year. He’s really taken advantage of the minutes with all the injuries. He’s gotten a lot better, he’s more confident than ever before, and he’s a very important player for us,” Kerr said.
Golden State visits the Clippers on Sunday in the regular-season finale before turning its full attention to a play-in run that will require back-to-back wins just to reach the first round.
