Why Steph takes Kerr’s rants to heart is important to Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
BOSTON – What do you think? It’s a statement. If we don’t win, everybody says, ‘Oh, they didn’t play anybody.’ You have to come make a statement, don’t you?
Playing the defending champion Boston Celtics at TD Garden, the Warriors answered every question about their early season success with 118-112 win Wednesday. The win mattered. It was a big deal, as reflected in Buddy Hield’s words above after being asked about the significance of the Warriors’ win.
Watching coach Steve Kerr pace the sidelines, it was clear this was not another November game on the Warriors’ schedule. Kerr was lively, focused and intense. His emotions were not held back, including with his superstar Steph Curry.
“The beauty with Steph is he lets me yell at him, which sets the tone,” Kerr said. “He accepted it. He knew it.”
The play and interaction Kerr is referring to occurred with five minutes remaining in the first half with the Warriors leading by four points. Curry grabbed a rebound off a missed Derrick White 3-point attempt, turned his shoulders and immediately lifted the ball forward to the other side of the court. His pass attempt fell well short of his intended target, Kyle Anderson, and landed in White’s hands.
That mental lapse from a turnover then turned into a Jayson Tatum 3-pointer, bringing the Celtics within one point. Kerr called the error a five-point swing from one bad decision, immediately calling a timeout.
The second the ball left Curry’s hands, Kerr’s anger was not masked. And he didn’t hold back on Curry going back to the bench either. Lip readers begin. There are easily at least a few words that cannot be typed here.
Kerr learned early in his coaching career that Curry can handle yelling when it’s needed, another of the many attributes that reminds him of Tim Duncan with how he responded to San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. Kerr’s message is simple: The Warriors can’t afford these kinds of mistakes anymore.
Because as strong and impressive as their 7-1 start has been, the reality has sunk in that these are not the dynasty years with peak Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Co. The margin for error is too thin to do. silly mistakes
“Boston shot 20 more threes than we did in the second half,” Kerr said. “So it’s hard to win if you give away properties. I was all over Steph and Draymond. We have to because they are our leaders and they are the guys who handle the ball the most. They need to reduce their bad decisions like this.”
As Curry reminded us at his locker after the win, he didn’t commit another turnover the rest of the way. How he accepts the criticism of Kerr as one of the faces of the league affects the rest of the team, which is another example of the leader Curry is.
“It’s a mindset that, one, I want to be coached just like everybody else,” Curry said. “I don’t feel about yelling if you make a stupid play, especially since it led to a three on the other end. It is preventable. We must be able to take care of possessions.
“Me and Draymond will have turnovers. We have the ball in our hands a lot, will take risks here and there. But there are turnovers such where even if [Anderson] grab it, it’s a tough play.”
The Warriors went on a 5-0 run after the break and outscored the Celtics 14-4 the rest of the second quarter to take an 11-point lead into halftime in an eventual six-point victory. That five-point swing could have been back-breaking. Instead, Curry at center court coming out of the timeout repeatedly tapped his chest as a sign of accountability and a reminder to lock in for the final 29 minutes.
This is a team that only has seven players left from the 2022 championship they won in Boston. Multiple new players are trusted, and the training wheels have been removed for their youngsters. Everyone was bought in, as seen in their ferocious defense, which held the Celtics to just 40 points in the first half.
But other teams will still jump at any chink in their armor. No one has the ability to superglue it and patch up the pieces like Curry.
Now on his fifth team in his nine-year career, Hield is thriving with the Warriors. The fellow shooter has been around some great talents before, but none like Curry, whose direct impact is felt far beyond his season-high 27 points — 10 of which were scored in the fourth quarter.
“Steph just … he’s the ultimate superstar,” Hield said. “He is only coachable. I’m learning a lot since I’ve been here. Every day you learn something new. That’s humbling, Steve comes at the best player. He’s won two MVPs and four championships, but that’s how coachable Steph is, man.
“He leads by example by being coachable, and he responds. And that’s what we’re all going to do.”
Parades are not scheduled in November. Curry knows there’s no reason to celebrate after eight games. It also cannot be ignored that the Warriors have now won five consecutive road games to start a season for the first time since their record 73-win campaign, or that he increased his playing time to 34 minutes his second game back from missing. three straight to injury, jokingly telling Kerr he can play 40 Friday night in Cleveland.
Everything begins and ends with him, and the relationship he and Kerr have shown is another bright spot for every Warrior following their lead into battle.
