New York – It's been one battle after another for the Golden State Warriors right now.
The understaffed Warriors, missing more than $190 million in salary due to eight players out due to injury, lost 110-107 to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The loss marked their fifth consecutive loss, their longest of the season, dropping them to 32–35 on the season.
But despite the loss, coach Steve Kerr was proud of his players for the way they defeated players including Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Kristaps Porzingis.
"Couldn't ask for anything more," Kerr said. "It's so much fun to coach these guys. They're playing so hard together. I just want them to be rewarded for their efforts. And we've lost some of them, but we'll keep fighting [and] Keep
To get better.”
Leading by 21 points at one point, the Warriors took the lead against the Knicks early in the game with Brandin Podziemski and Quinton Post leading the way. Podziemski finished with a team-high 25 points with six assists, while Post collected 22 points on 9 of 16 from the field.
But once New York gave up its complacency, it began imposing its will on the Warriors. They forced the Warriors into nine turnovers in the second quarter, reducing the lead to nine at halftime. And in the third quarter, they bullied the Dubs on the boards, outscoring them 15-to-1 in that period.
Still, Golden State held on until the final minutes, thanks to Gui Santos scoring 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter. But with a chance to take the lead with 23.7 seconds remaining, Podziemski hit a 26-foot triple over Jalen Brunson that went in and the Warriors could not recover from there.
Steve Kerr supports Brandin Podziemski's shot
Podziemski's missed 3-pointer in transition will be remembered as a big 'what if' turning point for the Warriors in crunch time. But whether it was an ill-advised shot or not, in Kerr's mind, he thought it was a good one to take.
"Felt great," Kerr said after the game. "I didn't want to call timeout. I wanted to play in the flow. He had Brunson. He looked like he was going to attack. Brunson backed off. I like that. Take the three, go for the throat."
Despite this, the Warriors find themselves at their lowest point of the season. Five consecutive losses, barely hanging on to the ninth seed, slipping even further behind the eighth-place Los Angeles Clippers, Curry still a long way from a comeback - it feels like it's do-or-die time for Golden State right now.
But Kerr said that although he is being "beaten" right now, he could not be more proud of the effort he has shown recently.
"I'm just overwhelmed by these people," Kerr said. "Just their effort, their intensity, their engagement. It's really beautiful to see. And like I said, we'll be rewarded for it. We'll stick with it and keep getting better, and we'll start winning some of these and getting some guys healthy."
If the warriors have made any contribution in these defeats, it is their efforts. Effort, hustle, patience and fight. There's a level of buy-in to this team that you don't see on most losing teams. So the schedule remains the same for Golden State.
"We have to keep batting," Santos said after the game. “We just have to keep trying to win games when we don't have other players, because we know when they come back, we'll be good.”
