With coach Steve Kerr bemoaning his team’s lack of focus, the Golden State Warriors “didn’t deserve to win” against the Denver Nuggets.
On Sunday, Golden State fell to Denver 112-110, with Klay Thompson missing two chances to win the game with three-pointers in the final five seconds.
The Nuggets held a nine-point lead entering the final two minutes while playing without Nikola Jokic.
At the end of the first quarter, Golden State led 36–26, but at halftime, their advantage had shrunk to three points.
Kerr pointed to the second quarter as where it started to go wrong.
“Up until the middle of the second quarter, we had total control of the game,” he said. “Then we stopped playing. We lost our focus on both ends.
“We had control of the game and just handed that back to them. We gave them life and they took advantage.
“We were mindless out there and weren’t tough enough, disciplined enough and ultimately didn’t deserve to win.”
Final 📊
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) April 3, 2023
Klay – 25p/5r/4a/1s
Stephen – 21p/3r/4a/2b
Donte – 18p/13r/4a/2s
Jordan – 17p/2r/3a/1s
Jonathan – 9p/1r/2a/2s
Anthony – 8p/8r/1s/1b
Kevon – 6p/14r/1a/1s/1b
Draymond – 4p/9r/7a/1s
Gary – 2p/2r/1a pic.twitter.com/RPgvk7iJAy
The Warriors sit sixth in the Western Conference with just games remaining in the regular season.
Two of those are on the road, with Golden State 9-30 outside of San Francisco this season. That is the worst record by a defending champion in the history of the NBA.
“Most of the questions when we lose are about what went wrong, and you try to point the finger, but if we obviously knew what to do about it, we would do it,” said Stephen Curry, who finished with 21 points in Denver.
“There’s a sense of urgency on these last three games, and not only just the wins but the vibe that you create going into a playoff series.
“That does matter. We’ve got to come to a realisation that if we’re going to win or do anything in the playoffs, this kind of game can’t happen.”