OAKLAND–The Golden State Warriors shot 57 percent from the field and had three different players score at least 27 points.
Yet still, Steve Kerr’s squad fell apart, losing Sunday evening’s contest to the Detroit Pistons by a final score of 115-107.
Through seven games, the Warriors have been hurt by uncharacteristic errors like poor defense, weak performances from the team’s bench and awful offensive rebounding. But in every game thus far, there’s been a constant refrain. Golden State must cut down on its turnovers.
On Sunday, turnovers were again the story, as all five Warriors starters committed at least three turnovers and the starting unit combined to give the ball away 22 times. All told, Golden State gave Detroit 25 free possessions, and after the game, Kerr expressed his frustration.
“At some point the ball just has to matter, the game has to matter enough for us to win,” Kerr said. “Teams are coming after us every single night and we know that. We’re getting everybody’s best shot. If you don’t match that type of energy and play with some intelligence and discipline, you’re not going to win.”
After winning in Los Angeles against the Clippers on Saturday night, Detroit traveled up to Oracle Arena and stunned a Warriors’ squad that dropped to 4-3 with the loss. Kerr said following the game that the Pistons deserved to win, because the Warriors didn’t play with enough focus.
“The right team won,” Kerr said. “Karma was in the right place tonight. They hit, Tobias hit a huge three at the top of the circle. He deserved that. They deserved that. They outplayed us, they outhustled us. We didn’t deserve to win that game just by showing up in the last six minutes.”
Kerr was critical of his team’s play on many fronts after the loss, but ultimately, the fourth-year head coach was most frustrated with his team’s complete inability to protect the basketball.
“This has to do with a complete lack of focus, fundamentals, we’re throwing the ball all over the place,” Kerr said. “Even some passes are hitting guys in the shoes even when they’re not turnovers. So it’s focus and execution. I’ll watch the tape.”
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