Steve Kerr says he’s “not doing my job well” as Warriors waste another Stephen Curry outburst
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The Golden State Warriors fell 136-131 to the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night in Portland, slipping to 13-14 and prompting head coach Steve Kerr to concede, “I’m not doing my job well this year.”
Stephen Curry, back for a second game after a quad injury, poured in 48 points and matched a career high with 12 three-pointers. The performance pushed him past Michael Jordan for the most 40-point games after turning 30 (45). Despite the outburst, Golden State surrendered 40 points in the fourth quarter and squandered a 10-point cushion in the final 10 minutes.
Kerr identified turnovers as the Warriors’ biggest flaw. The club is averaging 16 giveaways per game, sixth most in the NBA, and is 4-11 when committing more turnovers than its opponent. Against Portland the Warriors lost the ball 18 times—eight by Draymond Green—after posting 25 and 14 turnovers in two earlier defeats to the same Blazers squad.
“Just making bad reads, bad decisions,” Green said. “Be more decisive. Take better care of it. Too f—ing old to be doing that.”
Turnovers have contributed to an offense that ranks 20th at 113.4 points per 100 possessions. With Curry on the court, the rating climbs to 118.4, which would be sixth in the league. In the 737 minutes he has sat—he has missed nine games and averages 16.7 minutes on the bench even when active—the figure drops to 107.1, below the NBA’s worst current offense.
Kerr said the team must rely on Jimmy Butler during those stretches. He pointed to a four-possession sequence in a recent loss to Minnesota when Butler never touched the ball. “That’s on me,” Kerr said. “But that’s also on our players to understand. I can’t call a play every time … we have to find a way in collaboration to make sure we are playing through Jimmy.”
Butler told ESPN in November that the offense should shift to a deliberate, isolation style when Curry rests: “If you’re still trying to run the Steph stuff, it’s not going to work. Nobody’s overreacting to anybody.”
Instability has extended to the lineup. Sunday marked Golden State’s 15th different starting five in 27 games; the Warriors used 38 last season, the second-highest total in the league. Jonathan Kuminga, healthy and earning $22.5 million, has not played in the past three games and becomes trade-eligible Jan. 15. Rookie Will Richard is also out of the rotation.
Injuries compound the issues. Off-season addition Al Horford has missed 14 games with sciatica, De’Anthony Melton just returned from ACL rehab, and Green sat out the three contests prior to Sunday.
“I’m hoping we can correct that and have a sustained run of games where you know who is out there and you know what the rotations are and guys get comfortable,” Curry said.
Source: ESPN
