Kerr works to keep Warriors focused during dog days

Home! Familiar beds, nonfreezing temperatures, loud music at practice, and even some funny lines from “Airplane!”

But Steve Kerr made sure the Warriors weren’t too comfortable in their first day back at work Monday.

Even though his team returned home after a 4-1 road trip, even though it has the best record in the league, Kerr isn’t happy with what he sees as a bothersome trend.

So he put together a lowlight reel of the most egregious turnovers from the past three games.

“It’s a trend,” Kerr said. “I don’t care who we’re playing . ... I can count on one hand the ones that weren’t self-induced. We can throw 60-foot lob passes in transition, or throw the ball out of bounds, but it’s going to be harder to win.”

Welcome to the dog days of the NBA season. Late January is the middle of a long, hard grinding season.

“It’s too late to say it’s the early part of the season,” forward Kevin Durant said, “and the end is not close. So you’re in that gray area, trying to get through it.”

This is the time of year when coaches have to make sure problematic trends don’t become bad habits, that players keep their focus and tighten up things while somehow staying fresh.

“There are key points in the year where we have to hit the reset button in terms of priorities, and this is one of those times,” said Kerr, noting that a previous reset came after Stephen Curry’s ankle sprain. “It’s an important week. We need to take care of the ball, we need to be smart, make good decisions.

“That’s our focus this week. Three good games with three good teams coming in. Let’s take care of the ball and make it hard on our opponents instead of spoon-feeding them.”

Kerr knows the average fan doesn’t get this. How can NBA players not have complete focus when they’re on the court? But it happens. There’s a framed Sports Illustrated cover in the Warriors’ offices, the one with Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson on the cover under the headline “This is a moment, everyone.”

That was almost two years ago. The moment is continuing, almost four seasons long.

“I think it’s hard for people to understand,” Kerr said. “You would think guys would be able to get up for every game.”

Then Kerr quoted the famous Kareem Abdul-Jabbar line from the comedy “Airplane!”

“I’m out there busting my buns every night! Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes.”

“That’s one of the great lines of all time,” Kerr said. “Tell the fans to drag Chris Paul and James (Harden) and Kawhi (Leonard) and LeBron.”

This is yet another spot where Kerr is so valuable. He completely understands this. No matter how good the team, it is still hard to perform at a superstar level every night.

“This is normal. I went through it as a player,” said Kerr, pointing out that during the Chicago Bulls’ second championship run — they won NBA titles in 1991, ’92 and ’93, then won three more in 1996, ’97 and ’98 — the team went from 72 wins to 69 to 62.

“It’s exhausting, mentally and physically. We have 82 games in Year 4 of trying to go back to the Finals . ... It’s pacing our way through the year and if things get a little off track, get them back on track but don’t make a huge deal of it.”

There’s a cumulative effect of playing the longest seasons, having the most demands (Olympics, trips to China, endorsements) and pushing to be the best year after year.

“Yes, and it has been most tangible or palpable at home games,” Kerr said.

The Warriors have lost six of 22 home games, some to lesser opponents, as opposed to four losses in 25 games on the road. When an entire building is booing you, when your visit to town is treated as a cross between the arrival of the Rolling Stones and Darth Vader, it’s easier to get pumped.

“There’s a healthier level of respect for the opponent, for the challenge,” Kerr said. “Road games tend to get our guys a little bit more excited and motivated, and that’s why we’ve been better.”

“You tend to relax a bit at home,” Durant said. “On the road, it feels like this game is the last game of your career, especially when you’re playing a tough opponent. And the crowd is really, really into it. It’s kind of fun.”

The Warriors are trying to get to territory that has been charted by only three franchises: four or more NBA Finals in a row. The only teams to do it are the Lakers (1982-85), Heat (2011-14) and Celtics, who did it in the ’60s and again in the ’80s.

This week, the Warriors have a full plate: They host New York, Minnesota and Boston. They’ll keep grinding, keep trying to fulfill expectations, keep being the best.

They’re in the middle of one hell of a long “moment.”