Back-to-back losses send Warriors back to school in ‘intense’ workout originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – It’s not unusual for NBA teams nearing the end of a tough season to review a few games that negatively changed their trajectory. Games that will hurt their seeding if they don’t cost them a playoff berth.
The Warriors, perhaps realizing they don’t have the luxury of waiting until April, reached that point before Thanksgiving.
With back-to-back losses tarnishing their stellar start, the Warriors spent a few hours Tuesday studying video and working up a sweat on the practice court at Chase Center.
“It was intense,” Kevon Looney said. “But it was still nice to be back in the practice room and to be back home. We have limited ourselves to the little things. When we messed up, they made us do it all over again. It was intense, but we had to look again at the details of the little things that can cost you games.”
The goal is to fix what went terribly wrong in the last two games. The Warriors jumped out to a 17-point lead in the final 14 minutes, lost by 10 to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday, and lost an 18-point lead in the final 19 minutes at home on Monday night before losing by eight to the Brooklyn Nets.
Those two losses to teams with a .500 or lower mark were, to say the least, performances unbecoming of a team that has high aspirations and was atop the Western Conference just four days ago.
So back to school went the Warriors. They are 12-5 and in second place, but things looked a lot better when they were 12-3.
“We had a good training today; we needed it,” coach Steve Kerr said. “First training in about a week. Our performances over the past two evenings showed that we needed a lot of work in terms of execution.”
The main attacking mistakes revealed were empty possessions due to turnovers and slowness in getting into sets. The main defensive issues that surfaced were late or missed rotations and losing track of shooters.
Still, Kerr pointed the finger at himself for some of the shortcomings that led to Golden State’s first meeting this season with back-to-back losses.
“When we lose, there’s always things I look at afterwards,” Kerr said, pointing to a missed timeout opportunity as the Nets were rallying late in the third quarter.
“Those are two games in a row in which the third quarter ended badly and the momentum was in our opponent’s favor. That’s up to me. As a coach I have to solve that. And during the match I probably could have done better.”
It’s rare for a team to lose after scoring more field goals, more rebounds, more assists, more blocks and more steals than its opponent. The Warriors accomplished that feat against Brooklyn thanks to a minus-15 in free throws made and minus-14 in points after turnovers — two areas well within their ability to correct.
That’s why senior assistants Terry Stotts (offense) and Jerry Stackhouse (defense) were hyperactive Tuesday, especially during video review.
“After the game we all know what mistakes we made,” Looney said. “The thing about Stack and Terry was those guys called them all out.
“Today we have returned to our basic principles. Hopefully we do better for Oklahoma City.”
Oh yes. The Oklahoma City Thunder, in first place in the West, one game ahead of the Warriors, roll into Chase on Wednesday.
“You don’t do a lot of physical stuff and you don’t have a lot of contact,” Kerr said as he summarized Monday’s agenda. “But you have to go through the basics and the fundamentals on both sides. If we do that, it will show in the next game.”
OKC is a difficult assignment – but a perfect preparation for what follows. Golden State won’t see a new team until 2025.
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