Dub Hub: Steve Kerr explains why they didn’t foul before Chet Holmgren’s game-tying shot

Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Monday, November 20th.

Warriors News:

Steve Kerr: “We only wanted to foul if it was a clean foul“

Andrew Wiggins discusses the final minute of regulation vs. Thunder

Wiggins’ breakout game eases sting of Warriors’ OT loss to Thunder | NBC Sports Bay Area

Wiggins scored a season-high 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting from the field and 5 of 8 from 3-point range in the Warriors’ 130-123 overtime loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday at Chase Center.

“I’ve been putting in the work,” Wiggins shared. “I’ve been getting the shots up, working hard and just trying to do the little things on the court. Knowing that shots will fall.”

“The ball went in the hoop,” Kerr said of Wiggins’ big game. “He played great, he knocked down shots, but he was also really good defensively. I thought Wiggs was fantastic and great to see him break out after the slow start to the season. He looked great.”

Kawakami: Bob Myers on life after the Warriors, dealing with Draymond Green crises and more | The Athletic

Kerr, like Myers last year, is on the final year of his contract. But Myers agrees that Kerr seems destined to end up re-signing with the Warriors for several more years after this one.

“Seems to me that Steve really wants to be there,” Myers said. “I don’t know how long, but he definitely wants to be there. Years out, he wants to be with the Warriors, and I think he should be. And I think the Warriors are feeling the same way. I don’t sense any part of the organization that doesn’t want Steve there. He’s been unbelievable for the team. He’s almost the best you could find as far as a front-facing coach in any sport and is just an unbelievable human being. And I think Steph would probably echo some of that same sentiment as far as wanting to see it through with Steve.

“So I see a lot of alignment. And I just see a situation where two motivated people, the Warriors and Steve, just haven’t kind of clicked on that specific number or whatever it might be. But I’d be very surprised if that didn’t get worked out at some moment in time.”

Who might trade for Zach LaVine? A look at the potential market for the Bulls’ All-Star | The Athletic

The Case for the Warriors: The Dubs’ offense is off to a messy start, ranking just 15th in points scored per 100 possessions despite Stephen Curry’s nuclear-hot start to the the campaign before a recent knee injury. Outside of Curry, the Warriors lack anyone who can create their own shot. Andrew Wiggins has struggled early on, Paul is limited as a scorer at this stage of his career and Klay Thompson doesn’t have the athletic juice he once did.

LaVine could function as a supercharged Jordan Poole, who was traded to Washington for Paul. He’s the better shot maker and catch-and-shoot player of the two, and is also a better decision-maker and more switched-on defender despite his own limitations in those categories. While LaVine does not profile as a typical Dubs player, this is a new regime with Mike Dunleavy in charge. Even before Bob Myers’ summer departure, the Warriors have taken chances on players like LaVine, entering them into their system, promising them winning and asking them to do what they do well without overextending them. It worked with Wiggins, though other chances with shoot-first offensive creators (Alec Burks, Kelly Oubre Jr., D’Angelo Russell) have been more mixed. They’re willing to take shots on shoot-first offensive creators.

Still, I’d be surprised to see the Warriors go down this road due to LaVine’s onerous contract.

Injury update for today’s Warriors game against the Houston Rockets

NBA News:

Suns Bradley Beal out for an additional three weeks due to back injury

LeBron James ‘turns it up,’ scores 37 in win over Brooks, Rockets | ESPN

He reminded the Rockets’ Dillon Brooks, who has become a willing agitator of his in recent seasons, to rattle the cage at his own risk, as James scored 13 of his points in the fourth quarter on 5-of-6 shooting.

“That’s competition,” James said of Brooks, who, in the third quarter, caused a technical foul to be called on James by crowding his space and prompting an elbow and, in the fourth, prompted James to make a “too small” gesture after scoring on him in the paint. “Those young guys, they get me going. So, I need that.”

Celtics secure 102-100 victory over the Grizzlies with clutch block by Kristaps Porzingis

In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:

Where the Warriors truly lost the game against the Thunder

But the game was really lost in the third quarter — won by the Thunder, 34-26. A 61-51 lead at the half by the Warriors ballooned into an 18-point lead at the 6:54 mark of the third quarter (79-61). By the end of the third, that lead was cut down to only two — 87-85.

After a half where the Warriors corrected a few of the things they needed to address on defense after the first game against Thunder, a few details were overlooked in the second — especially in the little things.

It might sound like I’m picking nits, but at this level, this is what the Warriors have to pay attention to if they’re looking to contend. “Okay” isn’t fine. “Good enough” is actually not enough. “Close, but not quite” is still a loss.

Chet Holmgren, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander lead Thunder past Warriors

The lone bright spot for the Warriors was Wiggins escaping his early-season slump. He turned things around on Saturday. Wiggins finished with a team-high 31 points on 12-for-15 shooting from the field (5-for-7 from three). Curry had a fairly pedestrian game by his standards, but still scored 22 points and grabbed 6 rebounds.

For the Thunder, Alexander recorded 40 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists while Holmgren racked up 36 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists.

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