Steve Kerr on the final out of bounds play: “I would like that play call back”

Postgame Roundup: See what the Warriors had to say following their loss against the Nuggets on Sunday afternoon.

The Golden State Warriors failed to complete the sweep Sunday afternoon as they lost to the Denver Nuggets by a score of 126-121 during their Game 4 matchup. On the brink of elimination, the Nuggets played like a team with nothing to lose. Despite this and a subpar performance from the Warriors, Golden State came close to winning the game but ultimately fell just short. Here are some of the takeaways from the Warriors postgame pressers:

Steve Kerr Discusses the Game

The big postgame question on everyone’s mind revolved around head coach Steve Kerr’s final out of bounds play. To give context, the Warriors were down 123-121, with 33.5 seconds left in the game. Stephen Curry had been on fire up to this point, making the Nuggets pay every time they switched Nikola Jokic onto him. However, instead of drawing up a play for Curry, Kerr decided to go with a lob play to Andrew Wiggins. In all fairness, Kerr has successfully used this play all year long, but in this case, the ball was deflected by Austin Rivers resulting in a turnover at a critical moment for the Warriors. During his presser, Kerr regretted making the call saying he “would like that play call back”.

Other than that, Kerr pointed to the excessive amount of fouling and turnovers on offense as the main culprits for Sunday’s loss. He says that his team may have been a bit anxious to close out the series which resulted in a sloppy performance, but he is confident that they will refocus and finish things out at home.

Here’s what Kerr had to say following the game:

*Here’s Nuggets guard Austin Rivers discussing the final inbound play:

Warriors Players Discuss the Game

The Warriors emphasized how the team’s foul trouble hindered their chances of winning the game. Thompson was forced to sit prematurely after being called for two fouls early in the first quarter. This had a cascade effect as Kerr had to go away from his usual rotation leading to a few suboptimal lineups.

Draymond Green, who came close to fouling out in the previous game, was not as lucky in this one as he picked up his sixth foul during the closing possessions of the fourth quarter. The excessive fouling led to a lot of stoppages in play which forced the Dubs to play at a slower pace. Green said this slower pace made it harder for their offense as they had to score on a set defense for most of the game.

Stephen Curry had foul struggles of his own except his revolved around free throws. The Dubs as a team made 23-of-32 free throws for 71.9%, but Curry uncharacteristically missed 4 free throws going 10-of-14 from the line. He says the 14 free throw attempts speaks to his aggressiveness attacking the rim, but it killed him to miss those 4 shots.

Besides the foul troubles, it’s important to note that all the Warriors players seemed unfazed by the outcome of the game. They all acknowledged that they didn’t play well, but they also said they know what to fix and look forward to another chance at closing things out in the next game.

Here’s what the Warriors players had to say after the game:

Quote of the Night

The quote of the night belongs to Klay Thompson. If there was any silver-lining to this loss, it’s that the Warriors get an opportunity to close out the series in front of a hyped-up home crowd:

*Bonus Quote

Despite a tough playoff loss, there was no sense of panic in this team as Thompson continues to nonchalantly make paper airplanes during his presser.

Recap

Despite Sunday’s loss, Golden State still holds a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. They now get two days of rest between Game 4 and Game 5. With a series sweep out of the conversation, the Warriors will now head back to the Bay as they attempt to complete a 4-1 gentleman’s sweep on Wednesday night.