Coach Steve Kerr said the Golden State Warriors are suffering from a “crisis of confidence” after a second straight blowout loss at home.
Following a listless 114-98 loss to the Miami Heat on Tuesday night at Chase Center, the Warriors’ 15th defeat in 21 games, a frustrated Stephen Curry said the emotion was “just pissed off.”
“You’re trying to figure it out,” said an exasperated Curry, who tallied 31 points and seven assists.
“Everybody in the locker room is kind of searching a little bit, trying to understand what’s going wrong, why we can’t get off to better starts. Moments in the game where you’re climbing back, you can’t get consecutive stops. Bad possessions on offense that affect our confidence and body language and the vibe.
“There’s a lot wrong, but what are you going to do about it? We have to dig deep, figure it out, believe that we are a good team. Got to stop talking about it and around it and just fight our way through it.”
Golden State (18-18) has been desperately trying to decipher how to get back on track. Since opening the season 12-3, the Warriors have looked like a completely different team. Curry has tried meeting with teammates to emphasize how they are at a critical juncture in the season from which they can go one way or the other. He also has tried celebrating his 3-point baskets more in an attempt to inject the team with more joy and fun.
The Warriors, though, have had stretches where they can’t score, can’t shoot and can’t defend. But perhaps most disturbing to Kerr was a lack of fight against Miami.
“I expected better energy,” Kerr said. “I think we’re suffering from a crisis of confidence right now, frankly. You can see it. You can feel it. I don’t mind missed shots, but I mind when missed shots affect the defense and the attitude.
“We feel deflated right now. And there’s no room for feeling sorry for ourselves in the NBA, in life in general. We can’t let disappointment dictate our approach to the game. We have to do the opposite. We have to bring more fire. We have to outcompete our opponents when things aren’t going our way. And that was what was most disappointing tonight, was I just felt like everybody was down and we didn’t have a competitive spirit. And if you don’t have that, you’ve got nothing.”
