The Warriors wouldn’t be blamed if they cited their hectic travel schedule for Friday’s 139-119 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center.
But coach Steve Kerr refused to use that as an excuse, instead praising the Blazers for their performance.
“The NBA schedule is … everybody deals with whatever comes your way and there’s a lot of difficult moments to the schedule, whatever,” Kerr told reporters in Portland after the loss. “But tonight was not about that. It was about Portland and what they’ve built and the length and athleticism and the style of play. They were brilliant. I would be embarrassed to sit here and blame fatigue when a team just came out and just took it to us.
“It was about them and their great play and this city is really going to enjoy watching the Blazers because they play hard and they’ve got a real identity and they’re doing a really good job of rebuilding the franchise after the long run with Terry [Stotts] and [Damian Lillard] and CJ [McCollum]. It has been a rough couple of years but they’ve used that time wisely and built a really good roster.”
After beating the Denver Nuggets in overtime on Thursday at Chase Center, the Warriors flew to Portland for the second night of a back-to-back, and after a competitive first quarter, it looked like fatigue set in.
Aside from Steph Curry, the Warriors didn’t seem to have their legs underneath them. Jimmy Butler wasn’t as aggressive as he normally is. The defense offered little resistance to the young Blazers.
Portland took over in the second quarter and never let go of the rope. Kerr kept Curry in the game early in the fourth quarter, but he quickly waved the white flag.
Even with the 20-point loss, Kerr was pleased with how the Warriors fared during the first week of the season.
“It was a tough night but a really good week,” Kerr told reporters. “To go 2-1 with three games in four nights in three different cities, I’ll take it. But we’ve got to learn from this and do a much better job handling that kind of pressure.”
The Warriors have two days off to rest their weary legs, but then another back-to-back stands in their way. If they can beat the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night, Golden State might not have much left in the tank for the LA Clippers on Tuesday.
The good news for Kerr, Curry and Co. is that they don’t have to board a plane between those two games. They get to sleep in their own beds.
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