Focus redoubled after double defeats
The last time the Warriors lost consecutive games, they responded by reeling off a franchise-record, 16-game winning streak.
So what will happen now that they once again have dropped two in a row?
“Sometimes when you lose a couple, it makes you look really deep into the mirror at what you’re doing and what you’re trying to accomplish.” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, right
“Seventeen,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said after Friday’s practice.
Of course, Kerr was partly joking, but in all seriousness, he sure liked the way his team responded to this week’s debacle in Los Angeles. After losing to the nine-win, Kobe Bryantless Lakers on Tuesday and then looking completely out of whack in a loss to the Clippers on Thursday, the Warriors reported to Friday’s practice with a renewed focus.
“Sometimes when you lose a couple, it makes you look really deep into the mirror at what you’re doing and what you’re
trying to accomplish,” Kerr said. “When we lost two in a row early in the season, it bothered us. Our practices got better. We got better. Now’s the time to do the same thing.
“When you’re winning, it’s hard to get across how important the details are. Once you lose a couple, those details that you pointed out, the players open their eyes and say, ‘Oh, that’s what he’s talking about.’ ”
Midway through the Warriors’ winning streak, Kerr started to notice the slippage. After shooting better than 50 percent in five of six games near the start of the run, the Warriors failed to make half of their shots in eight straight games.
The selfless passing and purposeful player movement started to wane. After averaging 28.1 assists to 12.6 turnovers in the first seven games of the streak, the Warriors averaged 24.8 assists to 14.1 turnovers in the final nine games.
“We were still winning, so it was tough to get their attention,” Kerr said. “One of the things we’re still trying to establish with this group is our standard of execution, effort and focus in practice. It’s hard to reinforce that when you’re winning games, but you’re playing in a sloppy manner. It’s a lot easier when you look at the tape of what we did’’ Thursday.
On Thursday, the Warriors couldn’t take advantage of the Clippers missing 16 of their first 17 shots. The Warriors endured their mostlopsided loss of the season (100-86), scoring a season-low 42 points in the first half and hitting just 22.7 percent of their shots in the fourth quarter.
During this week’s two losses, the Warriors shot 44.5 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from three-point range with averages of 22 assists and 17.5 turnovers.
“The way we played (Thursday) night is cause for concern and crisis, but that’s the other thing we talked about a little bit: ‘Here we are, angry about (Thursday) night, not happy with the way we’ve played, and we’re 23-5 with the best record in the league,’ ” Kerr said. “That means a lot.”
It also means a lot that the Warriors will finally have time to correct their faults. They’ve already played 17 road games — tied for third most in the league — and have 13 road victories, tied with Chicago for first.
Friday started a stretch during which the Warriors will be home for 18 straight days, playing only six games. They have only four road games during January, meaning there will be plenty of practice time.
“I always thought we had a way to go, and we have the opportunity to get there,” captain Andre Iguodala said. “If we get there, we can beat anybody, at any time. …
“I’m not really concerned about other teams. I’m more concerned about how we’re improving from game to game. If we continue to evolve like we should, there won’t really be a rival, because we’ll just be better than everybody.”