Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said his team must sharpen its habits and execution as it prepares for the Western Conference play-in tournament following a 120-99 loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night at TD Garden.
Boston controlled the game behind Jaylen Brown’s 32 points and Jayson Tatum’s 24-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Golden State dropped six of its last seven games and fell to 33-36 on the season.
Kerr acknowledged that the Warriors were never fully in control of the contest despite generating quality looks on offense. “They made a couple threes, got it back to 12, 13, whatever it was. And we never really were quite in the game,” Kerr said. “I thought we did a lot of things well offensively. Got a lot of good looks. It just was a night where shots didn’t go down.”
The Warriors shot 40% from the field and 23% from three-point range, a disparity that allowed Boston to maintain separation after building a 63-50 halftime lead. Kerr pointed to defensive lapses and early mistakes as the primary issue. “I think we’ve got to be a lot better defensively. Some game plan mistakes early, a lot of fouling at the beginning of the third quarter and got us in trouble,” he said.
Golden State briefly cut a 21-point deficit to 11 early in the fourth quarter, but Boston answered with a 17-6 run to put the game out of reach. Kerr said the bigger concern is the team’s overall process as the postseason approaches. “What I’m most interested in right now is can we prepare ourselves for the play-in? We know that. And one way or the other. So we got to prepare,” Kerr said.
With Stephen Curry sidelined by a right knee injury, the Warriors have gone 6-13 in his absence, underscoring the importance of building structure before the roster returns to full strength. “If we’re prepared when they get back, we can do some damage. We can go on a run, but we can’t have game plan mistakes,” Kerr said.
Kerr emphasized that recent weeks have produced mixed progress. “One step forward, one step back. I don’t think we’re there yet. I think it’s going to take more than what we’re showing right now,” he said.
The veteran coach said Golden State’s margin for error has shrunk without its usual shot creation. “It’s easy to get discouraged when you don’t have the firepower that we’re missing right now because it kind of feels like you have to be perfect,” Kerr said.
He added that preparation extends beyond schemes and into fundamentals and mindset. “It means boxing out. It means don’t give up back cuts. We gave up like three back cuts early on after we had a shootaround this morning going through those very actions and we completely messed up coverages three times in the first quarter. Cannot do that. Cannot happen.”
Kerr also stressed the emotional and mental component of postseason readiness. “Part of locking in is not just the mental part of it, but it’s the spiritual part. It’s the emotion. How ready are you? How confident are you? How together are you?” he said.
Despite the recent skid, Kerr expressed confidence in Curry’s eventual return. “I’m not worried about Steph. I can tell you that. I know he’s going to come back and do his thing. He’s been doing this for too long. He’s in great shape and working hard. He’ll be fine,” Kerr said.
Golden State currently sits 10th in the Western Conference standings, and Kerr acknowledged the team has long known its likely postseason path. “We’ve had our eyes on six for a while, and that’s out of the question now. If we can string together some wins, try to get to eight, that’d be ideal. Get two cracks at it,” he said.
