Warriors 'good enough for championship', but Kerr demands mistakes stop after Thunder loss
Harry Carr
December 9, 2023 02:04 MYT
December 9, 2023 02:04 MYT
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr believes his team are good enough to win the NBA championship, but only if they cut out the kind of errors which cost them against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.
The Warriors slumped to 10-12 as they finished on the wrong side of a thrilling contest at Paycom Center, losing 138-136 in overtime.
Golden State led 62-56 at halftime before the Thunder rallied, with Stephen Curry – who finished with a team-high 34 points – making a series of big shots to keep them in the game past regulation.
From there, however, mistakes cost the Warriors as the Thunder scored eight points off four turnovers in the extra period, winning it when Chet Holmgren fed Luguentz Dort for a decisive layup.
Kerr's team have now lost their last five road games, the last three of those defeats coming by a combined margin of four points, and he knows errors are contributing to them finishing on the wrong side of the fine margins.
"We're good enough to win a championship," Kerr said after the game. "With this team. I believe that.
"But if we are just going to turn it over and throw the ball to the other team and foul over and over, then we're going to lose."
Final in OKC pic.twitter.com/kKavYXoke3 — Golden State Warriors (@warriors) December 9, 2023
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 38 points for the Thunder, and despite the Warriors enduring an inconsistent campaign, he believes the way they fought back against the 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022 NBA champions was something of a statement.
"We've got a bunch of competitors on the team, guys that don't back down, guys that want to be great," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
"We all know that to be great, you've got to test yourself against the great.
"Obviously, that's a dynasty that came in here today, and there's been multiple games like that this year. When we play the best of the best, we rise to the challenge."
#Golden State Warriors
#Oklahoma City Thunder
#basketball
#Steven Kerr
#Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
#NBA (USA)