Kerr says ‘deflated’ Warriors lack ‘competitive spirit’ in loss to Miami Heat

SAN FRANCISCO — Steph Curry at least stepped foot on the floor in the fourth quarter, so Tuesday night marked an improvement from the Warriors’ 30-point loss two nights earlier. But to coach Steve Kerr, the 114-98 defeat to the Miami Heat was just as bad.

“We feel deflated right now,” Kerr said after the loss, their second in a row and third in six games on the home stand by double digits. “There’s no room for feeling sorry for ourselves in the NBA — in life in general — we can’t let disappointment dictate our approach to the game. We have to do the opposite. We have to bring more fire than our opponents when things aren’t going our way.”

That wasn’t the case in a game where the Warriors allowed their opponents to shoot 40% from 3-point territory — 8-for-14 at one point on their way to a 61-48 halftime advantage — while connecting on just 14 of their 50 shots from distance (28%).

Besides Curry, who led Golden State with 31 points on 11-of-22 shooting (8-17 3 pt), the Warriors combined to shoot 29-for-76 (38.1%) from the field and 6-for-33 (18.1%) from 3. Trayce Jackson-Davis gobbled up enough of their misses to come one point shy of a career-high (19), and after a 22-turnover debacle against the Kings, they only coughed up the ball 11 times.

But here’s what concerned Kerr.

“I mind when missed shots affect the defense and the attitude,” he said. “I expected better energy. … That’s what was most disappointing tonight. I just felt like everybody was down and we didn’t have a competitive spirit. If you don’t have that, you’ve got nothing. So we’ve got to find a way to build that back up.”

The loss sent the Warriors to 5-16 since their 12-3 start, and the optimism of October and November is beginning to feel like a lifetime ago. The shooting woes have gone on for weeks. They’re dead last in looks at the rim. The one player who had begun to emerge as a reliable scoring threat alongside Curry, Jonathan Kuminga, was ruled out almost until the trade deadline, when decisions must be made about how to improve the roster — or whether it’s worth the attempt at all.

It’s all beginning to take a toll.

“I think we’re suffering from a crisis of confidence right now, frankly,” Kerr said. “… (The players) are quiet and they are down and lacking confidence. We’ve got to find our confidence. The only way you find that is through a competitive spirit and edge and you fight for everything, lift each other up and talking on defense. There’s got to be a competitive connection, and we lack that right now.”

For the second game in a row, Golden State fell behind early against an opponent playing under less than ideal circumstances. With Miami coming off a double-overtime loss the previous night, the Warriors were able to get out to an early 14-8 advantage. But they trailed 29-23 by the end of the first quarter and never regained the lead following an end-to-end loss to the Kings on Sunday.

The Warriors were awarded a technical free throw after Jackson-Davis and Terry Rozier had to be separated early in the fourth quarter, and Curry drained it to cut the deficit to 87-86. But the Heat immediately answered with a trio of tres — none closely contested — to push the lead back to 10 and pull away for good.

“Everybody in the locker room is kind of searching a little bit, trying to understand what’s going wrong,” Curry said. “Why we can’t get off to better starts. Moments in the game where you’re clawing back and can’t get consecutive stops. Bad possessions on offense that affect our confidence, and body language, and the vibe. …

“Once you lose that spirit it’s glaring how bad we can be at times, so you gotta be able to kinda fight through that.”

Just as Sacramento was without its leading scorer, De’Aaron Fox, the Heat were playing without one of their stars, Jimmy Butler, who was serving the second of a team-issued seven-game suspension after demanding a trade out of Miami.

And for a second night in a row, Curry poured in 20 first-half points but looked up at a double-digit deficit on the scoreboard as he retreated to the locker room. He dribbled himself free and drained his sixth 3 of the half to cut the deficit to 11, prancing back on defense, only for Haywood Highsmith to sneak behind his back for a putback bucket at the buzzer that negated his effort on the previous possession.

He started the fourth quarter and drained the first bucket of the period, another 3 that cut the deficit to 3. But the Warriors allowed Alec Burks to answer with a wide-open 3 on the next possession. It was the same story after Curry pulled them within a point minutes later. Nikola Jovic immediately sank a corner 3, then repeated it on the next possession — Curry closing out late both times — and Burks made it three in a row to extend the lead back to 10.

Curry checked out for good with 3:05 remaining, the Warriors trailing 112-94, and paced aimlessly around the bench area.

Defeated. Deflated.

“I can see it with Steph,” Kerr said. “At his core, he’s a winner. He’s a champion. He wants to go out and compete at the highest level. That’s who he is. That’s what he lives for. So he is really struggling with the emotion of not being competitive right now. He probably hasn’t had to deal with this since his first couple years in the league. So he’s definitely struggling with it.”

Up next

Golden State hits the road for a four-game swing against the Pistons (18-18), Pacers (19-18), Raptors (8-28) and Timberwolves (19-17) starting Thursday in Detroit.