OAKLAND–It happened on Opening Night. So what?
It happened against the Boston Celtics. They’re really good.
But on Monday night, it happened again, and this time, it came against a Kings team the Warriors had no business losing to.
Steve Kerr’s squad has had no problem building double digit leads this season, which shouldn’t come as a surprise for a team that’s won two of the last three NBA Championships. The problem, though, has been holding those leads.
Though the Houston Rockets and the Celtics have enough talent to compete with Golden State in a playoff series, the Warriors’ issue of giving up significant leads came back to haunt them again on Monday night, this time against a young and inexperienced Sacramento Kings team.
While the Warriors were without Steph Curry and Kevin Durant, who were both sidelined due to injuries on Monday, Golden State built a pair of 10-point leads and wound up losing 110-106. Kerr’s team went scoreless in the final three minutes of the game, failing to put away a Kings team that claimed its sixth win of the year at Oracle Arena.
There are no shortage of reasons –missing stars, poor shot selection, unfamiliar rotations, etc.– that contributed to the Warriors’ downfall against the Kings, but on Tuesday morning after practice, Kerr said a theme is emerging in games the Warriors have blown.
Put simply, the fourth-year head coach thinks his team is lacking a killer instinct.
“I think probably the difference is this is year four in terms of trying to get back to the Finals,” Kerr said. “The first couple of years, it just felt like there was a stronger desire to knock teams out whereas this year it feels more like guys are just thinking more big-picture, long-term. Myself included. We know what we’re up against with the year-long journey and we’re not stepping on people’s throats like we used to. I’m okay with that now, but eventually we’re going to have to get back to that point. I’m confident that we will.”
The Warriors are again tasked with fighting off complacency after downing the Cavaliers in a five-game series over the summer. Golden State has assembled a roster loaded with star power and depth, and Kerr has said on multiple occasions he thinks this year’s team is his most talented yet. Still, the Warriors have lost double digit leads at an alarming rate through the first month and a half of the year, and Kerr knows the challenge of maintaining his team’s motivation level is steep.
“I’ve been through this as a player and it’s not easy to keep doing what we’re doing year after year at such a high level,” Kerr said. “So I think that’s one of the reasons.”
