Steve Kerr, Warriors players react to Warriors' OT loss to Bulls
Steve Kerr, Kristaps Porziņģis, LJ Cryer, Pat Spencer and Gary Payton II speak to reporters following Golden State's 130-124 overtime loss vs. the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night at Chase Center.
Steve Kerr, Warriors players react to Warriors' OT loss to Bulls originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
Steve, just what do you make of the last, I guess, 90 seconds of regulation?
What went wrong in your, in your eyes?
Well, we had a, we had a turnover, and then, you know, we, we were playing the foul game up three and, handled, handled the, the situation pretty well.
but, yeah, I mean, we just couldn't, couldn't close it out, and obviously they got the, the two free throws with one second left and were able to send it to overtime, and then they were, they were the better team in OT.
I know the foul up three thing is always tough.
Did you want it that fast though, to leave that much time on the clock?
Yeah, because i- it's, it's hard to foul up three because, you wanna do it when you know they're not shooting.
And so if you wanna say, "All right, well, let's wait.
Instead of fouling at eight, let's foul at five," and the guy takes a dribble and pulls up and hits a three, you're like, "Well, why the hell didn't we just foul at eight?"
So, we, we were gonna foul on, on catch, on, on pass.
We wanted to make sure they didn't get a three up, and we, we handled that part fine, you know.
What sort of happened in OT that w- did the, did W- was, were the Bulls just kind of, like, making their shots or Say that again?
What, what, what, sorry, go- going on in overtime that, that the Bulls were able to pull away?
Well, they got off to the quick start, you know, g- getting the four points, and then Gary was, you know, tying his shoe, so it was four on five, and I took the time out.
We were, we were trying to get, Draymond and, and Al a couple of minutes rest to start overtime.
And, so we, we started Gary and, and KP.
but, those first, that first minute and a half didn't feel great.
And, so we made the sub.
Draymond made an immediate three.
And I thought all in all it was, we were getting good looks.
Al had a couple good looks, from the corner.
but, yeah, shots didn't go down.
We didn't score.
We only scored six points in five minutes.
What'd you make of Kristaps's game?
He looked a little bit more comfortable out there.
Yeah.
It's great to have him.
I mean, you just feel his presence, and you, you see how, you know, easily he scores and, he had four blocked shots and, So it's, it's really, really great to have him back.
Steve, um- What?
the foul Draymond committed there with one, two seconds to go.
What, what do you- Say that again?
Draymond's late foul in regulation- Yeah at the end, what, what happened there?
What'd you- He just, he just got his hand on his body.
It was a foul.
I l- I saw I watched the replay and, you know, I'm sure he'd like to have that one back.
He just got his hand in the wrong spot and, you know, would've been a tough shot and Smith would've had to hit.
It, it was a two also.
It wasn't, it wasn't a three, so it would've been for a tie, and Dray knows.
He, he just needed to challenge.
He was in a tough spot.
He didn't play the whole fourth quarter.
And, you know, and then I, I throw him out there for a couple of defensive possessions 'cause I know, how good he is on that end.
But he, he, you know, he wasn't exactly loose and in the flow and, I'm sure that didn't, didn't help matters.
Bigger picture, I mean, you guys obviously grabbed such a, a sort of, a inspiring win in Houston, played pretty well in Oklahoma City.
How do you view the last two nights?
I mean, they're games that, I think, some, a lot of people are probably surprised you lost both.
Yeah.
Both very winnable games.
you know, had, had, the lead late tonight.
Obviously, one we should have had, but, you know, you, you, you This is how the NBA is, you know, especially when you're beaten up.
You're not gonna blow anybody out.
games are gonna be tight and you gotta finish, and, we didn't finish either of the last two nights.
Steve, first quarter, Kristaps had three straight possessions, three mismatch, mismatch.
What has the variety of mismatches done for you guys as far as unlocking the offense, whether it's as a passer or as a scorer?
Well, he's, he's a guy who can catch with a live dribble and, get his shot off, you know, pretty easily, and, he's a great shooter.
So it gives us, you know, a, an isolation threat, at a time when, you know, we don't have Jimmy and Steph.
And so between Al and Kristaps, I, I really feel like we're able to get, gain some advantages, offensively to, to draw help and move the ball and get open looks.
Steve, so our bench gave the team a big lift while some of the starters struggle tonight.
So how do you evaluate the overall balance of rotation in the coming games?
Yeah.
I mean, I think the tricky part when you're, when you're banged up and you have a lot of injuries is every single game is different.
So when you're healthy, you kinda know who your four or five, you know, guys are who are gonna close the game.
Right now it could be any five.
You know, you saw it tonight, BP and Draymond are, you know, two of our best players, and neither guy was on the floor down the stretch, till the very end, for defensive purposes.
So we just have to mix and match and find the right combinations, for that night.
I thought Pat Spencer came in and was just phenomenal, gave us a huge lift and, you know, plus 18 on the night and So you stay with him, and that means tonight's, you know, closing lineup was different from last game's and the game before.
And that's how it is, so everyone has to adapt to that.
Steve, when we talked to you before the game, D'Anthony was questionable.
He said last night he was excited to play first time back to back.
Yeah.
What, what happened in between last night and- he had a little hamstring tweak or groin tweak.
I, I'm not sure which one.
the very end of the game, just a little bit, and it acted up on him overnight, and so we held him out to be safe.
Steve, Steve, I don't know, did you see what, Bam Adebayo did tonight?
Just what'd you think of, a guy scoring 83 points in NBA- He's okay.
He's okay?
How many times has that happened?
I think it's, second most in NBA history.
Second most after Wilt?
It's pretty impressive.Steve, Steve, I was gonna ask you about them as well, just given that you coached him last year, year and a half ago in the Olympics, any connection with him because of that?
Or to see that, is it any different because you obviously have that bond with him, I guess?
He's, he's one of the best, best guys, to coach on that team.
Just, just an incredible, person, teammate, collaborator.
just a phenomenal guy, and I'm really happy for him, but I'd be happier for him if we'd won tonight.
I know you understand.
Hey, Gary, these are obviously two tough losses back to back.
Just kinda what's the mood in there right now?
we can't feel sorry for ourself.
we do things in quarters, little, little mental breakdowns that, you know, those possessions come back later in the game, and the game is close.
So, you know, we take care of the little things throughout the game.
those add up during the course of the game, and things like tonight happen, where it's, you know, one-possession games, and things just don't go our way.
What, what did you see in clutch time, in regulation and then in overtime?
we were solid down the stretch.
We went, went on a run, and I think we was up five, and then offense kind of got, got slow, couple turnovers.
you know, they was just hitting shots tonight.
You know, we just didn't get stops.
You guys are under .500 for the first time since December, now the ninth seed.
What, what gives you optimism that this team can still make a run?
we know if we play the right way, we can be in any game, so just, you know, finish out the season strong.
Like I said, late, late second half, you know, clean up on some of the mental things, and, I think we'll put ourselves in a great position, you know, to close games.
Gary, to kind of follow up on that, how big of a difference is being in that seven-eight game in the playing compared to the nine-ten seed, having one crack at it versus two?
of course, you, you know, when you can get two stabs at it if you need to, it'd be great.
But, you know, to put ourselves in this position, like I said, we just gotta finish strong and, try to, you know, fight our way back up to the eight or seven.
So, you know, we finish strong, continue to do what we do, lock in on the defensive end, and, put ourselves in the best position every night.
You know, I think we can get it done.
Gary, I mean, with the state of the roster, the schedule, back to backs, you guys go to overtime tonight, how gassed are you as a team right now?
Nah, we're all right, man.
We can't feel sorry for ourselves.
we've been in pretty much every game down the stretch.
Like I said, it's just mental mistakes, you know, second half.
little runs that we can cut out with teams.
So, you know, fill our cup up tomorrow and come back on, Friday and, you know, get back after it.
Obviously, you had two such strong efforts against, you know, Oklahoma City and Houston and then kinda two opposite in the last two.
How do you explain the kind of whiplash there?
You know, just tough break.
you know, the season's, you know, it just runs.
You have, you have your runs, but, you know, we can't look back and go back at it now, so just, look ahead, get back in the dr- get back in the gym, you know, work on what we need to work on, and like I said, come back on Friday and, get back after it.
today was a tough loss in overtime.
What do you feel that the team could be doing differently to secure these wins as you fight for the eighth position in playoff standings?
just continue to get stops, you know, being, being locked in mentally on the defensive end, cleaning up all the little mistakes, take care of the ball on offense.
you know, what our, with guys out, we have to be very, very solid on both ends, so just continuing to do that, you know, and I think we'll be all right.
Gary, you mentioned a couple times not getting stops, a-and you're obviously one of the leaders on defense.
What, what was the issue with defense tonight?
Did What did, what did you not, you guys not do that you should've?
we fouled a lot.
Fouled on three.
like I said, l-little things that may not seem like big, a big deal during the game, but when you come down to it, when the k- games come down to the last couple possessions, you look back and you be like, "If we could've did this, we could've did that, not fouled here," you know, box out and do the things, the little things that we need to, you know, I think we come out with this win.
But it is what it is, but we just gotta figure out how to be locked in, you know, down the stretch.
Pat, what kinda, what kinda went wrong towards the end of the fourth quarter in that overtime period there?
Yeah, I have to go back and watch the film.
Another handful of plays that we went back.
but I don't think that was the deciding factor for us.
just let a couple of guys get hot tonight, and, you know, and there Anyone in the NBA can get hot, see the ball go in, that, that rim looks a little bit bigger.
And, credit to them, they played hard, but, you know, I wouldn't put it on, on one or two plays down the stretch.
I think we were a little bit soft on the ball.
I think they're pretty crafty, and I think, if we're being honest, they didn't have a bunch of guys that normally knock down the three ball at, at an elite rate.
and they still didn't shoot it that great.
It just felt like we were a little bit passive on that side.
they've got some, some guys that can create a little bit, but, it felt like they played at their pace for the most part all night.
And, you know, 6'9", 6'8", 6'9" playmakers getting downhill, paint looks pretty open.
just never felt like we were in control on that side of the floor.
When halftime, when overtime was about to start, what was your mindset?
My mindset was we gotta lock back in.
it felt like we had made a, a pretty good run there, towards the end of the fourth, and then, you know, it's very easy to get down on yourself when you, when you have a momentum swing that way.
it's just, we gotta refocus and figure out a way to win the game.How do you put this, this back-to-back into context, especially after you guys played so well in Houston and even in OKC?
I think we're at the point in the season where we're, we're fighting, just to stay alive right now.
So, the goal is, is to get into that seven, eight game.
I don't think we're gonna put too much stress on, on each individual game.
but we, we know how important every game is now down the stretch.
So hopefully get number 30 healthy here.
but ultimately we these are the games that we need to win if we wanna put ourselves in position to go after, go after a playoff run.
How important is that seven, eight, you know, bracket compared to nine, 10?
Yeah, I mean, the difference between having to win one game versus having to, having to win two games.
So, on any given night in this league, as you can see, anyone can beat anybody, and so you don't wanna put yourself in a position to go have to win two games.
But yeah, look, we're, we're more than capable of doing it, at full strength, but gotta be realistic.
It, it's much easier to get into that seven, eight game than, than being at nine, 10.
Even when your team had really good passing skills, according to what I saw, how did your team manage to lose?
Even though we had good passing skills, how did we lose?
I think a few mental mistakes that we'd want back as a team.
and I think to his question before, just defensively a little bit too passive tonight.
They had a, a handful of guys that made some plays for 'em, and I think they just felt pretty comfortable on that end of the floor all night.
Hey, LJ.
we know you're typically such a sure shot.
I'm sure you have tons of confidence at the line, but I mean, what's, what's the level of disappointment when you don't knock down that last one at the end of regulation?
I mean, it's definitely dis- disappointment 'cause, you know, if you, you make the free throw, probably a different outcome of the game.
But I mean, it's over with now, so kinda gotta move on and just be ready for the next one.
You're obviously getting a lot of minutes right now.
how are you judging how it's going?
Are you even playing maybe even a little more than you would've expected, and how do you think you're doing?
I mean, I feel like I've been playing well for my circumstance.
you know, just coming off of a hamstring injury.
I'm still trying to get my legs under me.
it's like my fourth day of playing five-on-five, like full court.
I've only got to play in the game, so you know, it's just taking day by day, stacking, stacking good days and, the more I play, the more comfortable I'll be, so yeah.
LJ, as a competitor, how did you learn the power of having that short-term memory and be able to flush things down like that?
just through experience.
I mean, last year when I was at Houston, we started off real slow.
went to Vegas, lost to, Alabama and San Diego State in the same weekend.
teams are, or people are writing us off, things like that, and then end up going 19 and 1 in conference.
So, you know, if you just stay positive and keep your head down and working, you can kinda flip things, so, yeah.
LJ, given, given how well you guys played in Houston and OKC, how surprising at some level these last two nights?
I mean, it seems so different than, than the efficiency with which the team played those two previous games.
I mean, it just comes down to the little things at the end of the day.
whether that's getting loose balls, not giving up second chance points.
but at the end of the day, we right there in these games.
but you know, the little things is what, what gets it done and, you know, credit to them.
There's so many of you guys, former Santa Cruz players, two-way, active two-way guys right now.
What's allowed, there to be such a seamless transition for you guys coming up to Golden State?
you know, we try to do some similar things in Santa Cruz, that they do up here, and, at the end of the day, it's basketball, so as long as you come with the right attitude and play with effort, everything will take care of itself.
So, try not to come in and worry about making shots or making mistakes.
Just go in and play hard, and I feel like if you keep attitude and effort at, the forefront, it's hard to, for things to go wrong, so yeah.
How do you guys uplift one another during challenging seasons when several veteran players are injured?
Can you say that again?
I'm sorry.
Yeah.
How do you guys uplift one another during challenging seasons when several veteran players are injured?
you know, this is a good time for us to, fight through advers- adversity.
So, you know, with- without Steph, Dray- Jimmy and the other guys, you know, we gotta, you know, we just gotta have one ano- one another's back, because it's, it's just that much harder to win without a star player.
So, we're, we're kinda forced to pick each other up and band together a little bit more, due to our circumstances.
But at the end of the day, I think this is good for us as long as we learn from everything that's happening.
What do you think brought down your game the most?
you can elaborate on that?
like I heard from the player before you that it was the men- that it was mental that what ruined the game.
What part do you think ruined it the most?
I think, like I said before, just the little things, whether that's boxing people out, scouting report errors, that, that's a mental thing.
But, it just comes down to the little margins and little things can turn into big things if you don't, take care of them, so yeah.If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self or someone else with big dreams, what would you say?
don't let anyone tell you what you can or can't do.
you know, I'm not the biggest guy.
didn't get drafted, was never, McDonald's All-American, things like that.
Was always like an underdog.
So, you know, if you keep working and have crazy belief and crazy faith in yourself, anything-- you can do anything.
So, yeah.
Losing the game that you guys had a pretty good lead, well, a decent lead going down to the last minute or so.
Yeah.
Yeah, well, tough loss.
this team was, you know, they were playing like, carelessly almost, you know, like they have nothing to lose, you know?
And, and, some, not the best execution from our side towards the end of the game, and, and, you know, tough result for us.
But it's the NBA, and it happens, and sometimes you're, you're on this side and sometimes you're on the other side.
So, we're gonna bounce back next one.
Just, do you feel like your win is building the way you want it to right now from game to game?
Yeah, definitely better today.
and I expect with each game.
I would say I need probably five games, four or five games, to feel pretty good.
Still feel like my legs are not great, you know.
I would make some other decisions if I felt like my legs are there, you know?
But, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm playing with the, with the cards I have now, and, I think I'll, just keep building with each game.
What are, what are some moments where you feel like you might have made different decisions had you been at full strength?
probably like when Al hit me on the fast break.
If I had like good legs, I probably would have been already further out, and it was a dunk.
and then like on some of the drives, I, I started to drive, and I was like, "Oh," like, you know, don't have the same maybe pop and, and just in general, and defensively also, you know, just, just having a bit more pop in the legs.
it, it will come.
It's just a matter of time.
And, and, and, and today I would say it was already a, a baby step forward from the first game.
Sorry if you were asked this earlier, but given how well you guys played and you beat an OKC, how kind of jarring are the last two nights?
it's, I mean, it's the NBA, you know.
You, you l-look good against a team like OKC, and then you go to Utah maybe and play at home and don't play the best basketball or, or just maybe don't execute perfectly towards the end and, and don't come up with a win.
And, and, you know, these guys like Boozler's played great.
it was hard to stop him all night and, knocking down shots, making big plays for them, so you have to give credit also.
You know, sometimes guys have big nights and- Right and, maybe they don't have the crazy team, but, but, would, you know, at the end, it's still an NBA team, and somebody can go for forty, and it can make it difficult for you.
Warriors are gonna announce an update on Steph tomorrow.
How eager-- and maybe it's kind of obvious, but how, how much of an emotional lift whenever he comes back?
Of course, of course.
I mean, I wanna play with Steph, you know.
This is-- Who doesn't, you know?
So, let's see.
H-honestly, I don't have no idea, how he's, like- Right what they're gonna announce.
Mm-hmm.
but I know he's doing everything he can to be back with us as soon as possible, and obviously it's, it's a completely different team with him here, you know.
So, yeah, hopefully I'll get that chance, soon.
You've had your battles with Bam Adebayo over the years.
I was wondering if you had any reaction to, eight-- him scoring eight points tonight, and how crazy is that?
You know, honestly, it's, I don't know who expected, Adebayo maybe to score eight-three, not me, you know.
Not that he's a bad player, but, you know, crazy night.
I haven't really looked into like how, how he got it done, but, hats off to him.
you know, I've heard like, yeah, I mean, honestly, no, he's-- eighty-three's insane.
He scored thirty-four free throws.
Forty-four.
Yeah.
Shot forty-four.
Forty-four.
Yeah.
You know, it's a lot of free throws.
So, but anyway, to get that done and, and, and, it's, it's remarkable, so hats off to him.
