(Photo by Chris Mezzavilla/KNBR)
The freight train is rolling, and there’s no stopping the Golden State Warriors’ express.
After a 1-2 start to the season, the Warriors are now 9-3 and riding a five-game win streak entering the final two games of a four-game homestand.
While fouls, turnovers and conditioning issues plagued the prohibitive title favorites through the first two weeks of the season, Golden State has now won five straight games of at least 17 points. On Thursday afternoon, Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr joined Tolbert & Lund on 680 and said that after a slow start to the season, one of the reasons his team has played so well of late is that his players were angry with the caliber of their play early in the year.
“I think some of it, it finally felt like we were ready to play both emotionally and physically,” Kerr said. “Training camp was weird, we went to China, so you know, having a shortened camp like the rest of the league, it literally felt like the first five six games, like we weren’t ready yet. Like we weren’t prepared to start the season. And then we got ready. It just happened kind of naturally based on the number of games we were playing and then maybe a little bit of anger too. We were not playing very well and guys were motivated to play better. But it wasn’t anything that we did strategically, that’s for sure.”
After a slow start to the season defensively, Golden State has held its last two opponents below 100 points, defeating the Miami Heat 97-80 and the Minnesota Timberwolves 125-99. Kerr said before the season that his goal is for the Warriors to finish in the top five in the league in defensive efficiency.
Though it looked as if Golden State had no chance to achieve that goal after the first week and a half, the Warriors are rapidly rising through the rankings and making an impression on their head coach.
“We were like 26th in the league in defensive efficiency before this stretch and we’re up to ninth in the last five games now,” Kerr said. “We’ve been really good, flying around, rotating and finishing possessions with rebounds. So it’s been a good stretch and as you know, that’s really what keys our whole game. We have so many weapons but we have to get to transition to really get flowing offensively. Getting stops gets everything going.”
To listen to Kerr’s full interview with Tolbert & Lund, click the podcast link below. To hear Kerr’s comments on the Warriors’ recent win streak, skip ahead to the 9:00 mark.