The Warriors reaped what they sowed in a self-sabotaging loss to the Timberwolves
The Warriors, for the umpteenth time this season, have no one to blame but themselves.
Golden State’s 119-114 loss in overtime at the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday at Target Center was another Warriors masterclass in self-sabotage.
Trailing 96-82 with 11:12 left in the fourth quarter, Golden State’s late regulation collapse was the appetizer for what ended up being a mistake-filled feast for Minnesota.
If the frustrating collapse of the Warriors was no longer an ominous sign that the problems persist, coach Steve Kerr was the only one who spoke after the game. It remains to be seen why the players were unavailable to the media, but speculation would lead you to believe that a possible team meeting could have been called.
Although Kerr was the only speaker, his comments carried the weight of the entire team.
“I thought we had control of the game and then I thought we gift-wrapped it,” Kerr told reporters after the game. “And not to take anything away from Minnesota, I thought they were great. They took advantage of our mistakes and lack of execution. [D’Angelo Russell] it got hot and the guys made big shots, but we missed box-outs, we threw the ball away, we made really difficult shots.
“So everything we had done up to this point to take control of the game, we stopped doing. We got what we deserved.”
Of the Warriors’ 25 losses this season, eight have been decided by five points or less. Golden State is 1-3 in overtime and would be winless if not for a 143-141 double-overtime win over the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 2.
For a team that has blown countless fourth-quarter leads this season, Wednesday night was an all-too-familiar feeling for the Warriors. Kerr’s reasoning for why this continues to happen is simple.
“Execution. I know it’s just a catchphrase, whatever you want to call it, but it’s the truth, you have to execute,” Kerr explained. “These are the best players in the world, even with their guys out. If you want to give a team some possessions, then they’ve got guys that will take advantage. D-Lo hits like three 3s after shooting. the ball out some how many times and the whole game changes.
“If you want to win, especially on the road, you have to execute and we’ve probably lost five or six games like this this year because of a lack of execution. We’re not good enough to win without executing. , we could have been a few years. Now we’re not good enough to win without running the fourth quarter on the road. We’re trying to correct that, we’re trying to work on that and we’ve got to do better. .”
The Warriors were sloppy late in the fourth quarter and into overtime. In the final five minutes of regulation plus the five-minute overtime period, the Warriors committed seven costly turnovers. Sloppy play is often a symptom of a larger problem within the game, but on Wednesday night, the Warriors couldn’t blame their collapse on fatigue.
“The game went into overtime. Steph and Klay hit 42 and 40 minutes, so it takes overtime and they’re in their normal range,” Kerr said. “We had yesterday off, so I didn’t think fatigue was a factor. We just weren’t sharp mentally. We gave away a lot of possessions.”
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After reeling off three straight wins, the Warriors looked like turn a corner and they began their sprint to one of the top seeds in the Western Conference.
Unfortunately for Golden State, right around that corner was a brick wall.
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