{"id":520300,"date":"2026-01-06T14:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T14:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/520300\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T14:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T14:12:12","slug":"steve-kerr-crashes-out-and-steph-curry-fouls-out-but-the-warriors-arent-down-and-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/520300\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve Kerr crashes out and Steph Curry fouls out, but the Warriors aren\u2019t down and out"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section 415 email newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to the Section 415 podcast wherever you listen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Assistant coach Terry Stotts took the postgame podium. Steph Curry joked about his first foul-out in five years. Jimmy Butler, holding court at his locker, said he liked the look that he air-balled for the win. <\/p>\n

It was a peculiar scene after a strange game. But the Warriors didn\u2019t seem like a team that just lost a one-point heartbreaker to the Clippers and slipped to 19-18 on the season. <\/p>\n

Stotts was at the podium to save head coach Steve Kerr some fine money; \u201cThat\u2019s the only reason I\u2019m here,\u201d the lead assistant said. Kerr was ejected from the game with 7:57 left for storming onto the court in a fury after officials missed an obvious goaltending call. He\u2019d already been steaming because the play directly before, the refs waved off a potential Curry and-1 with a late whistle for a foul they deemed was on the floor. <\/p>\n

Both Curry and Draymond Green said they appreciated Kerr standing up for the team. \u201cSomebody had to do it,\u201d Curry said. <\/p>\n

Kerr\u2019s first ejection since 2022 came in the Warriors\u2019 worst 3-point shooting performance of the season (24%). He was tossed during a game in which Gui Santos didn\u2019t play for the first three quarters, then sat for just 19 seconds in the final frame. One in which the Warriors won the turnover margin \u2014 their bugaboo all year \u2014 20-7 and still lost. On a night Curry picked up his sixth foul with 42.7 seconds left before Butler, one of the most clutch players in league history, threw up an airball with a chance to win the game. <\/p>\n

It was such an odd night, legendary rapper Snoop Dogg was on the call for Kerr\u2019s ejection. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Through all of the chaos, the Warriors had reason to act normal in the postgame locker room. They believe they played well, especially defensively, and could\u2019ve won with a call here, and a shot rimming in instead of out there. Golden State\u2019s average on the season for 3-pointers is 36%, and the Warriors generated mostly clean looks against the Clippers. <\/p>\n

The team has also won six of its past nine games and is heading home for an eight-game home stand \u2014 its longest of the season. <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, we just got to continue to rack up wins,\u201d Curry said. \u201cI think our process has been really good. It\u2019s shown up in [the advanced analytics]. And the vibe is good. Tough losses like this and Toronto, a couple games ago. But we\u2019re doing things the right way, coming with the right approach.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Warriors have used practically the same starting lineup and substitution pattern behind it for almost a month now. Kerr likes the continuity of the current alignment and doesn\u2019t appear to have greener grass in mind at the moment (at least with the current roster). The Warriors are starting Moses Moody and Quinten Post around their big-three, and bifurcating bench units around either Butler and shooters or Curry and Green\u2019s two-man game. Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield are out, Gary Payton II and Will Richard are in. <\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean the Warriors have played like gangbusters. The starting lineup entered Monday with a -2.9 net rating. Even their recent stretch of wins wasn\u2019t altogether convincing. It\u2019s clear that they\u2019re not championship contenders as currently constructed, and key stakeholders such as Kerr have banged that drum, too. <\/p>\n

But the ECG is still beeping. They haven\u2019t flatlined just yet. As Kerr likes to say \u2014 when he\u2019s in a calmer headspace than after back-to-back blown calls \u2014 there\u2019s beauty in the struggle. <\/p>\n

The Warriors are learning what that means in real time. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think we are getting better,\u201d Green said. \u201cI look at where we were a month and a half ago to where we are today, I think our defense has improved, I think our offense has improved. I think our coaching staff has gotten a grip of the rotation and combinations. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re starting to turn a corner. And I think as long as you continue on that path, your record will eventually show it. I think, for the most part, we\u2019re in a pretty good spot. We can play a lot better, which we know, but most importantly, I think we\u2019re growing.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3786],"tags":[7,479,164,4025,4024,6,66,932,863,255],"class_list":{"0":"post-520300","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golden-state-warriors","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-golden-state","10":"tag-golden-state-warriors","11":"tag-goldenstate","12":"tag-goldenstatewarriors","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-steph-curry","16":"tag-steve-kerr","17":"tag-warriors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115848566860926624","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}