SACRAMENTO – Their shots clanked off the rim. Their passes sailed into their opponent’s hands. And subsequently, the Warriors allowed a sub. 500 team to pull off a double-digit run.
So, Warriors coach Steve Kerr quickly called timeout. He gathered his players. And he tried to inject some passion.
The only problem: Kerr had to do this several times.
The Warriors eventually secured a 119-104 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Friday because of their star power with Kevin Durant (33 points), Stephen Curry (23), Klay Thompson (20) and Draymond Green (13). Even though the Warriors (41-11) may have satisfied the bottom-line result, they needed to hit a reset button multiple times amid sloppy play (25 turnovers, one shy of a season-worst 26 on Oct. 29 against Detroit), five ties and six lead changes.
“I did not do a good job of regrouping them,” Kerr said. “I tried to regroup them, but I never did regroup them. They won tonight on talent and shooting the ball. That’s all.”
The main reason for the Warriors’ inability to listen to Kerr?
“Our guys are dying to get to the All-Star break,” Kerr said. “We’re limping to the finish line to the All-Star break. Btu we got to fight through the break and then get the hell away from each other and go sit on a beach and relax and then we’ll be in great shape.”
There is only one problem. The NBA All-Star break is not until Feb. 15. The Warriors still have six more games to play, including on Saturday in Denver.
“We have to fight human nature a little bit. We know how important that post All-Star run is and coming back strong and refreshed,” Curry said. “But if we don’t build the right habits and have the right spirit around our team heading going into the break. That could carry over. You don’t want to have that negative energy out of the team.”
The Warriors had plenty of negative energy against the Kings.
Warriors reserve guard Patrick McCaw lost the ball as Kings guard Buddy Hield coasted for an easy layup to cut Golden State’s lead to 89-86 with 8:06 left. On the next possession, Durant threw a lazy pass that Hield intercepted for an easy layup that chopped the Warriors’ lead to 89-88 with 7:55 remaining. Kerr called timeout, and ultimately the Warriors went expanded their cushion with 97-88 with 6:13 left after securing a 9-0 run. The Warriors secured the game later on after and Nick Young made back-to-back 3-pointers for a 117-102 cushion with 1:26 remaining.
The Warriors did not play as dominated as the scoreboard indicated.
Granted, it did not help the Warriors’ sloppiness coincided with various absences. Warriors veterans Andre Iguodala (rest), David West (rest) and Shaun Livingston (personal reasons) missed the game, while the Warriors ruled out rookie forward Jordan Bell for at least two more weeks amid continued inflammation in his left ankle.
So, perhaps the Warriors (41-11) solve their issues on Saturday in Denver with Iguodala and Livingston returning and West sitting to attend funeral services for his former NBA teammate Rasual Butler. Despite the Warriors’ league-leading record, they have struggled throughout the season with fighting complacency and avoiding turnovers, entering Friday’s game ranked 28th out of 30 NBA teams with 15.2 per game.
After losing by 30 points on Tuesday in Utah, the Warriors trailed the Kings, 20-7, with 6:03 left in the first quarter. In less than a six-minute span, Kerr had already called two timeouts amid the team’s sluggishness. So Kerr told his players, “Let’s push the reset button. Start over.”
“We have work to do to get to that break,” Curry said. “We have to find a way.”