Kevin Durant asked about Kerr saying the team needed to play with more anger: “I thought we moved off joy. Now anger? I disagree with that one.” pic.twitter.com/M7o4nFDori
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 6, 2019
OAKLAND — The Warriors were demolished on their home court Tuesday night, falling to the Celtics 128-95 in a game that was rarely competitive.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called the loss “embarrassing” postgame, and cited a lack of intensity and anger from the Warriors as primary factors.
“From the very beginning, we were not flying around, we were not giving the sort of effort it takes to win an NBA game,” Kerr said. “The other stuff I’ve got to do a better job with making sure we’re in the right defensive schemes and get the right combinations on the floor. So it’s a group effort and I’m the coach so I’ve got to make sure I’m doing my job. But it starts with a passion and an anger and an intensity, and it wasn’t there tonight.”
Kevin Durant was asked for his thoughts on Kerr’s assessment in his presser directly after, and seemed a bit perplexed.
“I thought we move off of joy? Now anger?” Durant asked.
“That’s what your coach said,” reporter Tim Kawakami responded
“I disagree with that one,” KD continued. “We just gotta…I think all around top to bottom players and coaches just got to be better. We’ll come back tomorrow and watch the film and practice and see where we go from there. We usually bounce back pretty well, so we’ll see what happens.”
Kerr has stated on multiple occasions that the Warriors, and especially Stephen Curry, are at their best when they are playing with joy, a contradiction that Durant was not so subtly referencing with his retort.
Regardless of which emotion serves them better, it’s hard to argue they played with either on Tuesday night.