Kerr frets over team’s transition defense

MINNEAPOLIS — Hours before the Golden State Warriors played the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, head coach Steve Kerr and his players watched video from Friday’s loss to the Indiana Pacers.

“Made a lot of mistakes. All very correctable,” said Kerr while professing confidence in his club. “But we’ve got to improve the effort and focus.”

Along with their transition defense.

In their 123-11 loss to Indiana, the Warriors conceded 26 fastbreak points, on par with their per-game average of 24 — fourth worst among the NBA’s 30 teams.

Kerr has lamented Golden State’s transition defense throughout the season: Opponents are running on 18% of their possessions, during which the Warriors concede 1.19 points per possession — fifth worst in the NBA.

“It’s bad habits more than anything,” Kerr said. “A lot of stays. We call them stays. You don’t sprint back (defensively) and you just stand there. And that’s on us as coaches. We haven’t been able to teach it well enough. It’s a group effort and we’ve got to find a way to get it across to our guys.”

Conversely, Golden State’s transition offense has all but evaporated, generating 18.3 points via 1.09 points per possession. The Warriors are third-tolast in points per possession, fourth-to-last in transition points per game and next-to-last transition frequency, running on 14.6% of their possessions.

Regarding their transition defense, Kerr said “that tape was just so alarming” noting the Pacers play at the NBA’s fastest pace.

“They were pushing the ball after every play and we just had stay after stay,” he said, also mentioning issues Friday in shot selection and physicality.

“There’s a reason we lost. We’ve got to find a way to teach it better. We’ve got to do it better.”

No explanation: The Warriors began their fivegame trip with an 18-19 record at Chase Center and an 18-14 record everywhere else.

Why is Golden State better on the road?

“I have no idea,” Kerr said through a smirk, drawing a collective chuckle from a room of reporters.

There aren’t any conspicuous statistical differences that would seem to offer an explanation: Entering Sunday, the Warriors were shooting 46.9% from the field at home and 47.7% on the road, and scoring 117.9 points per game at home and 119.1 on the road.

From Minnesota, this trip continues with games against Miami, Orlando, Charlotte and San Antonio.

Last season, the Warriors were 33-8 at home and 11-30 away from Chase Center.

“It seems to have flipped,” Kerr said. “I couldn’t figure it out last year and have no idea why this year.”