Warriors still scrambling to figure it out as they fall short in overtime loss to Celtics
BOSTON — Fourty-five games into the season and the Warriors still haven’t quite figured it out.
They had it going in the first three quarters Thursday night, showing what they can do on both ends of the floor, but they let the game slip away late in fourth before falling 121-118 in overtime to the Celtics.
“We looked like what we are, which is a championship team, but we didn’t close the game and better now than in the playoffs,” coach Steve Kerr said.
Golden State led the entire second half until a defensive breakdown led to Jaylen Brown drilling a wide-open game-tying 3 with 18 seconds left that ultimately forced overtime.
The Celtics pulled ahead by six points with a minute left in the extra period. Donte DiVincenzo hit a corner 3 to pull them within three points with about 30 seconds left. But Jordan Poole’s shot at the buzzer ricocheted off the backboard and the Celtics earned their eighth straight win.
Golden State has been frustratingly average this season, hovering around .500 for most of the season. Draymond Green recently said the team lacked a sense of urgency, and Klay Thompson admitted there’s been a lack of focus.
But Kerr thought there’d be “no shortage of motivation” heading into the 2022 NBA Finals rematch.
“For a team like ours that has been at it for a long time, there are going to be games that stand out during the 82,” Kerr said pregame, “and then there’s others, there’s a lot of other games where you’re just trying to — I don’t want to say get through them but you’re trying to build momentum within them, and build good habits and find something to hang your hat on as a team.”
The Warriors’ effort, competitiveness and grit was there for about three and a half quarters. But Golden State started to lose its edge near the halfway point of the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t have the aggression we needed down the stretch [and the] focus level last six minutes kind of waned,” Green said.
Turnovers and defensive mishaps gave the Celtics a fighting chance.
“A great team like that you can’t give them life… and that’s what we did,” Curry admitted after the game.
Disappointed in how the night ended? Of course the team is.
But Kerr remains confident that this team, led by its dynastic trio, will figure it out.
“We’ve got a core group that has won titles and that’s in their DNA, I have great faith in all those guys. They’ve been through everything together, they’ve had great success,” Kerr said. “It’s a long haul to get through the NBA season, particularly in the case of Steph, Draymond, Klay you’ve been at it for a decade playing deep into the playoffs, it’s not easy. But I have no doubt we’ve got enough, and those guys know how to get it done and I’m excited about what’s ahead… I know we can do this and I think our guys feel the same way.”
Time is ticking, though. The Warriors are 22-23, good for ninth in the Western Conference standings, with 37 games to go. And they have yet to have a statement road win over an above .500 team this season.
The Warriors’ situation is similar to that of where the Celtics found themselves this time a year ago. Boston was 23-23 on this day last season before the team turned a corner and erupted on a nine-game win streak at the end of January 2022. The Celtics would go on to lose only six games over the last 32 contests and finish with the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
Looking for a spark to jolt this Warriors team into motion, Kerr decided to go small, starting Jordan Poole in place of Kevon Looney as a way to spread the floor. Poole got going early, scoring nine points in the first quarter, before finishing with 24. He looked strong defensively — as did the rest of the team — for stretches of the game but the Warriors got outrebounded 63-47.
Kerr said he intends to keep Poole in the lineup for the time being.
Curry believes the way the Warriors played through the first three quarters in Boston is something they need to build on.
“We’re capable [it’s] just a matter of execution and being able to sustain it,” Curry said. “Everybody played a great game, played hard, played physical, it’s just another level to get to that we have gotten in terms of just putting together full 48 minutes and against a great team like that to show some grit on the road.”
The Warriors will close out this road trip in Cleveland Friday night when they face the 28-18 Cavaliers.
“We played really good basketball all the way until the last few minutes and luckily this is not in the playoffs and it’s in the regular season,” Poole said. “We can learn from it, got a game tomorrow and try to go home with a win.”