Kerr emphasizing defensive effort
The Warriors do not exactly project the image of a grinding, get-your-hands-dirty team. Not with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson raining majestic three-point shots.
But Golden State survived Tuesday night’s scare against Philadelphia by cranking up its defense in the fourth quarter. Head coach Steve Kerr was encouraged by the way his team scraped out a 106-104 victory, because he knows the offense isn’t the same without injured forward Kevin Durant.
“The last couple of weeks, we’ve struggled to score at times,” Kerr said after Wednesday’s practice. “We haven’t been hitting shots, so we’ve got to take care of our defense. That’s the main thing.
“You saw what happened (Tuesday) night: When we locked in defensively, that changed the whole game. That has to be our focus. We can’t worry about who’s scoring and who’s not.”
Not surprisingly, the defensive stand started with Draymond Green. The 76ers scored 90 points in the first three quarters, but then Green ratcheted up the intensity — and Philadelphia managed only 14 points in the fourth quarter.
“I thought Draymond picking up (T.J.) McConnell full court a couple of times early in the fourth quarter set a different tone,” Kerr said. “Most of the game, we were 10 feet off our man all over the place, just letting guys run wherever they want.
“Then all of a sudden, Draymond is picking up full court, and not even his man. Then he’s switching to his man when he gets back to the backcourt. It changed the tone of the game.” Pachulia vs. chair: Center Zaza Pachulia had a rough night Tuesday, missing all five of his shots from the field in 12 minutes. He unleashed his anger in the third quarter, kicking a chair and scraping his left shin.
“I got frustrated with the way things were going for the team and myself, and I just reacted,” Pachulia said. “Maybe not the smartest thing, but it was pretty good for me to get it out.”
As Pachulia pointed out, his shin injury could have been worse. Oklahoma City’s Enes Kanter missed 10 games after he broke his forearm while punching a chair in frustration Jan. 26. Barnes makes impact: Matt Barnes was on the court down the stretch Tuesday night. Barnes, who joined the Warriors on March 2, has had two consecutive strong games: 14 points and nine rebounds Saturday against San Antonio, then 10 points and nine rebounds in 22 minutes against Philadelphia.
“He’s feeling more comfortable with where he’s supposed to be and what the play is,” Kerr said. Looney plan: The Warriors plan to send forward Kevon Looney to their D-League Santa Cruz affiliate for its game Friday night. Kerr suggested Looney might stay there longer than one game because he “just needs to play.”