How fiery Steve Kerr sparked Warriors’ scorching second quarter in win over Jazz originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – With Draymond Green watching from the bench Monday night, the Warriors shook off an ugly first quarter, pressed the “power” button in the second quarter and became the team Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler III and Steve Kerr keep insisting they are.
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Hustle? Check. Grit? Check. Ball movement? Check. Rebounding? Check. Shooting. Check. Spirited defense, without Draymond? Double check. And two – two – turnovers, neither of which was costly.
Those 12 scorching minutes during which the Warriors outscored Utah by 21 launched them to a 134-117 victory that buried a three-game losing streak.
It all came together and a very visible tongue-lashing by Steve Kerr late in the first quarter.
“We just wanted some good vibes around here,” said Curry, who scored a game-high 31 points. “We had good practice yesterday. Utah was coming off a back-to-back (set). We wanted to get off to a better start than we did.
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“But we responded after that quick timeout. Coach lit a fire underneath us, and I’m just glad the way we responded as a whole. We know we can play better, but it’s nice to have a little bit of offensive rhythm tonight and see the ball go in after a rough start.
Kerr, hopping off the bench to call a timeout, was livid about a defensive breakdown by Brandin Podziemski with 1:53 left in the first quarter that allowed Keyonte George to drain a wide-open 3-pointer, his fourth in the quarter without a miss.
“Keyonte George and Lauri Markkanen were the two guys that we wanted to contain tonight and pay special attention to,” Kerr said. “And 10 minutes into the game, George is 4-for-4 from 3. Wide open shots. We just lost our focus, and I just wanted to gently remind them that we needed to focus more.”
The Warriors were being torched, as the Jazz shot 61.9 percent from the field, including 70 percent from beyond the arc, in the first quarter. Utah led by as much as 11 and took a 35-26 lead into the second quarter.
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“Talents like that, they’re going to score,” Curry said. “But we gave him four wide-open 3s. And anybody knows that shouldn’t happen in this league if you’re keying on two of their best players, two of their best scorers.”
Kerr’s reminder prompted the Warriors to grow fangs and use them in the second quarter. They opened with a 21-0 run and outscored Utah 41-20. They limited the Jazz to 8-of-27 shooting from the field, including 2-of-11 from distance.
Meanwhile, Golden State was shooting 58.6 percent from the field, including 53.8 percent from deep, with Moses Moody (10 points) and Buddy Hield (nine) accounting for almost half the 41 points, while Pat Spencer and rookie Will Richard came off the bench, bringing energy.
The game had flipped. The Warriors, despite a few lapses, looked like a different team over the final three quarters, posting a 108-82 advantage.
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“We took care of the ball, and that’s priority No. 1 for us,” Kerr said, referring to eight turnovers after the first quarter. “When we take care of it, we generally win. We’re 9-1 now, when we win a turnover battle, and like 1-8 when we don’t. It’s obvious what our measuring stick is, and that helps our defense. I like that. I like the way the ball moved. And once we got a Pat and Will out there, I really liked the ball movement, the flow, the energy, it just it felt right.”
One clue of the team’s energy is that of the 11 Warriors who played, all but one grabbed at least two rebounds. The persistence on the glass allowed them to post a 50-47 rebounding edge over a much bigger Utah squad.
Hield, slumping most of the season, delivered his most productively efficient game thus far, finishing with a season-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, including 4-of-8 from distance. He added five rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes.
From big things to the little things – the kind of things neglected all too often – it was 36 minutes of high-quality hoops that allowed the Warriors to roll to a rare feel-good win.
Now, it’s about staying on point, finding consistency and gathering momentum.
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“That’s the biggest thing, understanding how they’re trying to score who’s going to have the ball,” Curry said. “But you have to just go step-by-step in terms of us putting together 48 minutes of solid sound defense, where we’re truly proud of the way we play, start to finish.
“We know we haven’t done that yet.”
With 63 games remaining, there will be plenty of opportunities to change that.
