Warriors assistant coach Terry Stotts took the podium Monday night after the Golden State Warriors fell 103-102 to the Los Angeles Clippers at Intuit Dome. “I’m up here because I’m saving Steve [Kerr] some money. So, that’s the only reason I’m here,” Stotts said, opening his postgame press conference with a touch of humor.
When asked about Kerr’s ejection with 7:57 remaining, Stotts explained, “Well, that sequence I think it was that goaltending call that was missed. There was also it seemed like that… Well, there’s probably some other things, but that’s that was the last straw probably.” He noted that while the replay wasn’t clear from the bench, “it sure seemed obvious at the time that it was a goaltend. They did not give an explanation… so I assume it was a late call.”
Stotts addressed the frustration level on the bench, saying, “There’s always going to be some frustration in a close game… I don’t know if frustration is the right word… you look at the stat sheet, we did a lot of good things. We played our asses off… I don’t think any frustration affected our game.”
He also commented on the final play: “Obviously we wanted to get Jimmy [Butler] the ball and, you know, he had a good look. We had to… maybe somebody else, if it bounced the right way, we were going to get the offensive rebound. So yeah, we were pleased with the shot we got at the end.”
Reflecting on stepping in after Kerr’s ejection, Stotts said, “No… just try and coach the game… it helps we got a veteran team. They know what they’re doing out there.” He praised Gui Santos for his impact, noting, “Tonight’s a great example. He doesn’t play for three quarters and… he’s ready to go in a big game. You feel his presence out there… you can count on him regardless.”
Stotts also addressed matchups against tall teams: “Maybe it affected our offensive rebounding, but for the Clippers to only have six offensive rebounds, I don’t know if it was that big of a factor tonight… I thought Gui helped us with a little more size.”
Highlighting Al Horford’s influence, he added, “Al, you know, he’s just… he’s a pro’s pro… smart on both ends of the floor… he doesn’t have to make shots to have an impact… great in the locker room, has the respect of every player.”
On the Warriors’ defense and turnovers, Stotts said, “I thought we forced a lot… that really helped us… whether we converted or not, we converted much better in the second half.” He also stressed shot quality: “We didn’t shoot the three well… I think for the most part our shot quality was good… both from inside the line and outside the line.”
The Clippers improved to 13-22, led by Kawhi Leonard’s 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Stephen Curry fouled out for Golden State, finishing with 27 points in the 103-102 thriller.
