The Golden State Warriors faced the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night, suffering a tough defeat after opening the season with two consecutive wins, and Steve Kerr acknowledged the team’s shortcomings.
The Warriors could have pointed to their hectic travel schedule for Friday’s 139-119 loss at Moda Center, but coach Steve Kerr refused to use that as an excuse, instead praising the Blazers’ performance.
“The NBA schedule is … everybody deals with whatever comes your way and there’s a lot of difficult moments to the schedule, whatever,” Kerr told reporters in Portland after the loss. “But tonight was not about that. It was about Portland and what they’ve built and the length and athleticism and the style of play. They were brilliant. I would be embarrassed to sit here and blame fatigue when a team just came out and just took it to us.
“It was about them and their great play, and this city is really going to enjoy watching the Blazers because they play hard and they’ve got a real identity and they’re doing a really good job of rebuilding the franchise after the long run with Terry Stotts, Damian Lillard, and CJ McCollum. It has been a rough couple of years, but they’ve used that time wisely and built a really good roster.”
Head coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors talks to Jimmy Butler #10.
Warriors struggle on the second night of a back-to-back
After defeating the Denver Nuggets in overtime Thursday at Chase Center, the Warriors flew to Portland for a second consecutive game. Despite a competitive first quarter, fatigue seemed to take over.
see also
Nuggets’ Aaron Gordon joins Michael Jordan in prestigious list after scoring 50 points vs Warriors
Aside from Steph Curry, Golden State struggled to find rhythm. Jimmy Butler wasn’t as aggressive as usual, and the defense offered little resistance to the young Blazers. Portland seized control in the second quarter and never let go. Kerr kept Curry in early in the final quarter, but quickly signaled defeat.
Kerr sees positives despite the loss
Even with a 20-point loss, Kerr found encouraging signs from the Warriors’ first week. “It was a tough night but a really good week,” Kerr said. “To go 2-1 with three games in four nights in three different cities, I’ll take it. But we’ve got to learn from this and do a much better job handling that kind of pressure.”
The Warriors now have two days off to rest, but another back-to-back looms. If they can defeat the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, Golden State may face fatigue heading into Tuesday’s matchup with the LA Clippers.
