Warriors: Loss To Kings Is A “Gut Punch”, Says Head Coach Steve Kerr

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When Andrew Wiggins hit a 3-pointer with 1:17 left in the second quarter of Tuesday’s game between the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, it looked as though the visiting team had the game all but wrapped up. The Warriors looked completely dominant over the first two quarters of the game while the Kings came out fat on their home floor, and the lead was 24 points just before the half-time intermission.

Warriors Give Up Massive Comeback To Kings

But through a slew of mistakes from their veterans in the closing moments of the contest, the Warriors allowed the Kings to come crawling back and eventually cap off a massive come-from-behind victory. Sacramento guard Malik Monk took advantage of back-to-back turnovers by Steph Curry and Draymond Green turnovers in the final 60 seconds, scoring the final five points for the Kings including the game winner. The Kings defeated the Warriors for the first time in three tries this season, and improved their record to 10-6.

It was a tough loss to endure for Golden State. Not only did they blow a massive lead in front of a national audience, but they suffered injuries to some key rotation players that could affect them down the road. The Warriors had a chance to crawl back to the .500 mark had they been able to pick up a victory, but they now sit at 8-10 and are currently in 10th place in the Western Conference.

Kerr Ensures That The Team is Not Panicking

After the game, head coach Steve Kerr had the following to say, via The Athletic:

In my experience in this league, you have one gut-punch loss a year where you go into the locker room and cannot believe you just lost the game…We’re not in a free fall. It’s the early part of the season. We’re losing a bunch of close games. You can see it on tape every game. Fouling and turnovers. I can only say it so many times. Those two things have to improve. When they do, we’ll be really good.

The Warriors are going to have a tougher time crawling out of this particular hole than they have in season’s past. Stephen Curry still has the late-game heroics to keep them in any game, but their veterans in Klay Thompson and Draymond Green simply aren’t the players that they used to be and can’t be counted on as often. There are other, younger pieces that step up from time to time, but they have been wildly inconsistent while playing behind the veterans.

The next two games for Golden State will be a home-and-home matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers, and they’ll look to get back to .500 once again.

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