Kerr refuses to view TJD’s night as silver lining in Warriors’ loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – On a night when Steph Curry was his normal, magical self but few other Warriors stepped up, the last thing coach Steve Kerr wanted to talk about was silver linings.
Not even a strong bounce-back game from center Trayce Jackson-Davis just 48 hours after one of his worst performances of the season was enough to lighten Kerr’s mood in the moments following the Warriors’ second consecutive lopsided loss Tuesday at Chase Center.
Jackson-Davis was Golden State’s second-leading scorer behind Curry in a 114-98 loss to the Miami Heat, pouring in a season-high 19 points – one shy of his career best – and grabbing seven rebounds.
Kerr, though, didn’t want to hear anything about it. Considering everything Kerr had witnessed over the previous three hours, Jackson-Davis’ night basically was irrelevant.
“I can’t sit here after that and be excited about anything,” a clearly angry and frustrated Kerr told reporters after the loss. “I mean, he scored 19 points. Great. He’s having a good season, but who the hell cares if we’re not competitive?
“If we don’t have a competitive spirit and a fight and a willingness to compete through everything, then I’m not going to sit here and talk about, ‘Hey, so and so had some points.’ Great. Who cares? It’s about us competing and being the Warriors, being the team we’ve been for 10 years and not feeling sorry for ourselves. That’s what I’m thinking about tonight.”
To be fair, Jackson-Davis didn’t exactly have a great night. He shot 9 of 12 and was active on the boards, but finished a team-low minus-15.
Still, it was a far better game for the second-year pro than what he showed against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday.
In that game, Jackson-Davis was held scoreless for the first time this season and snapped a nine-game streak in which he had at least one steal or block.
He brushed off that night like dandruff on his shoulders and started a new run with two steals against the Heat.
“It’s all about responding,” Jackson-Davis said. “Just trying to have a good game to help my teammates, but it wasn’t enough tonight. We have to look at the film, go over the things that we did wrong.
“There’s a game every other day, so you always have opportunities. What you can’t do is let one bad game dwell and turn into a bunch of bad games.”
That’s the challenge facing the Warriors right now.
Since a superb 12-3 start to the 2024-25 NBA season, Golden State has fallen on hard times and has had a tough time getting up.
Now with an 18-18 record, Golden State is tied with the San Antonio Spurs for the No. 10 spot in the Western Conference with the midway point of the season only 11 days away.
Kerr said part of the problem against the Heat was the Warriors’ attitude after missed shots and how it affected their defense.
“I don’t mind missed shots,” Kerr said. “But I mind when missed shots affect the defense and the attitude. We feel deflated right now. And there’s no room for feeling sorry for ourselves in the NBA, in life in general. We have to bring more fire.”
Jackson-Davis agreed.
“Obviously everyone here is trying to play, trying to get minutes, trying to stay playing,” he said. “It’s a lot different for guys. But we got to win. Winning solves a lot.”
Until that happens, don’t expect Kerr to find happiness in any sort of silver lining. At this point, if it doesn’t include a win, then it doesn’t really matter.
Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast
This embedded content is not available in your region.
