Steve Kerr, Warriors players react to 124-118 road loss vs. Kings

Sat, Apr 11, 2026

Steve Kerr, De'Anthony Melton and Brandin Podziemski speak with reporters following the Golden State Warriors' 124-118 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Friday night at Golden 1 Center.

Steve Kerr, Warriors players react to 124-118 road loss vs. Kings originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Video Transcript

Do you have any update on Steph, how he's doing?

Yeah, he's doing fine.

Doing fine.

What happened?

What'd you see in the first quarter?

Did he roll his ankle?

Was it his knee?

It was his ankle.

It wasn't his knee.

So, that's why I took the, the timeout and, I was worried it was his knee.

I just saw him limping, and he came over and he said, "No, I'm fine.

It's just the ankle, and I just, just kinda, um..." I don't know.

He just tweaked it or something, but he's fine.

Fine.

Was the plan not to close with him, huh?

Yeah.

and then do you, do you know on Sunday, like if that's a game that you guy- you want to keep, you know, seeing him or, or...?

Well, yeah, the plan is to play.

Um- Yeah to play Steph and, you know, he wants the rhythm and to continue to build his conditioning and I don't know exactly how many minutes.

the game is, probably not gonna matter to the Clippers.

obviously it doesn't matter, to us in terms of, you know, positioning.

so, we'll have to You know, we'll, we'll make sure that health is the number one priority, but, rhythm comes after that.

The-- You, you're probably going to play the Clippers in the play-in.

Yeah.

At least that seems like the likeliest option.

Does not wanting to, you know, show them anything, is that come into play at all?

Yeah, for sure.

For-- I'm sure for both teams.

How would you diagnose some of the issues you guys had defensively tonight?

we were not good defensively.

We had, one, one good stretch in the game, the third quarter.

you know, where we, when-- We, we-- I, I thought we, we set a tone defensively.

Obviously, Draymond got, got things stirred up a little bit and we needed that, that fire, that edge.

but that was it.

The other three quarters were really poor.

Did you see the combination that you wanted to Yeah.

Yep.

What'd you make of Gary's, I didn't even see what he did, but I-- coaches said he took a half court shot after he took the timeout.

Is that right?

Right.

And then it went into the stands, yeah.

so obviously, can't do that, you know?

that, that, that hurt us and it's just, you know, careless.

Just, we just gotta be, we gotta be solid and that's what I talked to the guys in there about.

It's like, you know, we're going in, to Wednesday's play-in game with, without much momentum, without, a whole lot of continuity and health and, and all that and so we're trying to put it together quickly and we're gonna have to clean up a lot of mistakes between now and then.

But we do have some time, but we have to focus.

That first game back with Steph was so electric.

Did this feel more like more of a con- a continuation from the second, where you said he maybe looked a little rusty?

I just think it's, he's just getting his feet underneath him, you know.

the, It wasn't, wasn't his best night, obviously, but, it's just good for him to play and continue to get reps. What did you, like or not like about, Al Horford and Porter Jr.'s, and their time together?

What'd you think about that pairing, how they looked?

they looked good together.

You know, I, I thought Al looked, really good.

He prepared, really well over the last, couple of weeks as he was, you know, getting, getting ready for this.

ramping up his, his minutes and, and scrimmaging and all that stuff, so.

but the two of them, it was good to get them out on the floor together.

We know they were good together, you know, in Boston.

they're smart players.

They can play off of each other.

They can both, you know, go inside or out on offense, both, protect the rim.

So it's a good pairing.

You said you don't feel like there's much momentum going into the play-in.

Are there things that Are there any-- Is there anything that you feel like gives you hope for that play-in game or?

Oh, I, I've got lots of hope.

I, I think we can win two games 'cause I know these guys, and I believe in them.

but I, I also know that, we're not where we need to be.

We just showed that tonight.

so, Sunday I'd like to get, you know, more reps, have more focus, fewer mistakes, and, then we'll have a couple of days to prepare and, get after it.

Oh, hi coach.

Big picture about Guisento.

W- You think what he's done right in this season to h- I'm sorry, I can't hear you.

A big picture, uh- Big picture question about Guisento.

You think what he's done, like, in this position?

yeah.

Guis has- Guis had a great year.

you know, he's really taken advantage of the minutes with all the injuries.

He's gotten a lot better.

he's more confident than ever before and, he's, yeah, he's a very important player for us.

What'd you feel like, y'all kinda accomplished today?

I mean, we talked about it last night, just, you know, the need to get reps with guys.

What'd you feel like you kinda, I guess, got accomplished?

Yeah, I think, start at the game we, It was just much like feeling out and trying to do different things, and then it was kinda scattered in the second quarter, and the third quarter I think we really, that first group that was out there really like honed in and, got the game back in, you know, won two possessions and, we kinda found a rhythm there, so that was good.

but we were pretty much scattered the rest of the game.

What do you make of that third quarter with all the, the technicals and the back and forth with the Kings and everything?

I mean, I was just laughing at a lot of it.

it's pretty funny stuff going out there.

but everyone was just kinda having fun with the game.

Where did you see the breakdown tonight?

I wouldn't really call them breakdowns.

I just, I think I did a good job of taking advantage in transition and then, uh-You know, most teams when Steph's not out there just switch everything.

So just take advantage of matchups and, get in, get into the room.

Last game with play and then you guys sort of want to practice more?

I'm not sure what, what Steve's gonna want, if we're gonna try to do some things or not, because I think we're gonna play the Clippers probably now.

so it'll be all up in the air of what he wants to do.

But, for me, when I'm out there, just try to hone in on the details, things that we're gonna have to do on Wednesday.

Did you learn anything about what worked or what didn't work with that starting group with, Steph and Kristaps and you?

Yeah.

I think we just, just got to get a little bit more organized.

There's a lot of, chaos out there with Steph, and I, I don't think KP's quite used to that.

Boston's a big on, big on like spacing and spacing the floor, and so he comes from a kind of a different system.

And so just him being out there with Steph, he's gonna, you know, learn and, and see things.

but you gotta g-gi-give it time.

Did you know your point total when you got to the line or no?

Everybody did.

as soon as I, as soon as I missed the first one, everybody on the bench looked at me, and that's why I smiled a little bit.

but yeah, they've just been, you know, giving me a hard time about it the whole year.

Yeah.

How gratifying is that on a personal level?

I, I mean, it's, it's cool.

I'm blessed for sure.

you know, last time we were here, I think Will had thirty, so it's cool to replicate that.

Yeah.

It would've been bad on, on both ends, pizza and, you know, the count could be activated now.

you're one game away from playing all eighty-two.

How much pride do you take in that?

I mean, a lot.

I've had good vets, like I mentioned the other day, Loon and Buddy, who've done it before me.

but I think really just after my injuries, I just found a flow, on the days in between or back-to-backs that have allowed me to just be ready and be healthy.

through my injuries, I learned a lot about my body and, and how it works.

And, by doing that, I'm able to prevent injuries before they occur.

And so, you know, knock on wood, God willing, be able to play one more game, it'll be a gratifying eighty-two.

Yeah.

Steve came in there and told us, that I think the, the Blazers won, so they're the eight seed, unless I think they lose to Sacramento on Sunday.

so fortunate for us, we'll be able to spend a couple days in LA and get ready for Wednesday.

Is it nice to have some players ?

I think it's more so for the coaches.

Yeah.

they've been game planning for LA or Portland for a while now.

but I think it just helps them have clarity.

It gives them an extra couple days now to really know what we're playing.

How did, how do you think the team played tonight?

All right.

I think they came out, you know, with force and then, you know, they decided that we gonna try to, you know, come right at these guys.

So you can definitely tell.

But you know what I mean?

We're just getting ready for Wednesday, and I think that's the most important thing.

What needs to happen between now and Wednesday to get ready?

Health is wealth, man.

Health is wealth.

I ain't even gonna lie.

Just get, get healthy as possible.

You know what I mean?

do what we gotta do to recover and just get ready to gear up.

Steve said, Steve said he pretty much-- it feels like you guys are gonna play the Clippers on Wednesday.

just what do you think about that match up, and how do you feel about playing, staying in LA for possibly five straight days?

I mean, I think that's good for us.

you know, no matter who we play, you know what I mean?

I think we, we had to get ready for whoever it was.

But I think at the same time, it's just, you know, not having to travel sometimes and, you know, having to travel short, short distances is also good too.

Man, most definitely.

Anytime he hit the floor, anytime any of our older guys hit the floor, like, you gotta gasp for air sometimes.

So, I'm glad to see him, that he was able to get up and run around and, and, you know, still finish the game.

So, yeah.

Feel good to do a rest with the group then?

Yeah, most definitely.

I think, you know, having mainly everybody out here, just to be able to get a feel for different lineups, different groups and, you know, see what the guys like to, like the ball too, was important.