Warriors head coach Steve Kerr entered training camp with “a level of demand and rigor” people in the organization hadn’t witnessed the past couple seasons, and that commitment to accountability has carried over into the start of the 2024/25 season, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
On Wednesday night, Golden State improved to 7-1 after an impressive six-point victory over the defending champion Celtics in Boston. With about five minutes left the second quarter, Stephen Curry attempted a full-court pass to Kyle Anderson that was stolen, leading to a five-point swing after Jayson Tatum converted a three-pointer. Kerr, who has been focused on reducing the team’s turnovers, was very unhappy with the play.
“This is a theme with our team,” Kerr said. “We can’t be the same team we were five or six years ago and give away five or six possessions in the name of creating chaos. Everyone else is playing fast and shooting threes, too, these days.
“Boston shot 20 more threes than we did in the second half. So it’s tough to win if you are giving away possessions. I’ve been all over Steph and Draymond (Green). It’s incumbent upon them because they are our leaders and they’re the guys who handle the ball most. They gotta cut back on their bad decisions like that.”
As Slater writes, Kerr’s reaction — and Curry accepting and learning from the critique — are emblematic of the strong start to the season. Notably, the two-time MVP did not commit another turnover for the remainder of the contest.
“The beauty with Steph is he lets me yell at him, which sets the tone,” Kerr said. “He accepted it. He knew it.”
Here’s more from the Pacific:
- While Lakers head coach JJ Redick praised LeBron James‘ performance following Wednesday’s 131-114 loss in Memphis, he was critical of the rest of the team’s effort, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. James scored a game-high 39 points on 15-of-24 shooting, to go along with seven rebounds and six assists. Starting point guard D’Angelo Russell, who has opened the season in a shooting slump, only played six minutes in the second half and 22 overall, marking a season low. “Just level of compete, attention to detail, some of the things we’ve talked with him about for a couple of weeks,” Redick said when asked why he limited Russell’s role. “And at times, he’s been really good with that stuff. And other times, it’s just reverting back to certain habits. But it wasn’t like a punishment. It just felt for us to have a chance to win this game, that was the route we wanted to take.” After starting the season 3-0, the Lakers have gone 1-4 over their past five games.
- It’s only been eight games, but Kevin Durant has been playing at an MVP level for the 7-1 Suns, according to Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports (subscription required). In addition to being the fulcrum of Phoenix’s crunch-time offense, the 14-time All-Star is also filling up the stat sheet, averaging 27.8 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 3.4 APG and 1.4 BPG on .551/.420/.813 shooting in 39.0 MPG.
- Suns guard Bradley Beal has been hampered by a nagging right elbow injury, and his current usage rate (18.1%) would mark a career low. But Beal has been efficient offensively and is finding other ways to contribute, particularly taking on challenging defensive assignments, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic, who notes that Devin Booker recently called Beal the “heart” of the team.
The Suns are pretty fake at this point. They have beat Clips 2x Por LAL 6rs, and on top of it theyre barely winning these games against trash teams. Helium check big time, and we havent even gotten to the part of the year where KD/Book miss time which has been an annual occurrence.
10th O 9th D 9th overall tied for the 2nd best record
Good point on weakness of Suns opponents.
But they do seem to have conquered the problem that sunk them last year: losing the great majority of close games. They’re benefiting from better coaching, a full year playing together, and a real PG.
The defense is way worse than the current 9th benefitting from a bunch of opponents that are at the bottom on offense. They also are 30th in shots at the rim, and I know they love the midrange, but usually good teams score at the basket at a decent clip.
Chapman, good points, can’t argue them, but I have to offer a touchy-feely observation in response:
I have watched 4 Suns games on NBA Pass this season, and they look SOOO much more organized and communicative than last year.
So, another take: it’s exactly the same roster as last year PLUS a real PG and PLUS excellent rookie defender Dunn. So, they should be a bit better than last year.
Notwithstanding, as you said earlier, injuries will be deciding factor for Suns this year.
Playing without a PG last year let them run bigger more defensive units. Tyus is a target big time. He seems like a push since he improves the offense but hurts the defense. Also KD is at 39MPG and Book at 37 which is super not sustainable. Like I said major helium watch…
They remind of another WC team that’s started 7-1 that has beaten mostly trash teams other than Boston. Of course even then Boston’s 2nd best player was out.
Warriors next 3 games will tell.
Cavs – undefeated
Thunder – were undefeated a few hours ago
Mavs – top 4 team
Silivan, what’s your call?
Preseason odds of GSW winning all 3 of Celtics, Cavs, and OKC is ~ 1/75. That would be stunning.
Pre-season odds said GSW’s toughest games on the schedule were, one, last night’s game in Boston, and, two, all their road games in OKC.
Odds of beating Mavs roughly even
The Warriors have had an easier schedule for sure. They have also beaten the bad teams like a top team should where they have been in control the full game.
They also won with Steph missing 3, Melton missing 5, Wiggins missing 2, and Podz missing 1. They have shown up on defense in every game and defense gives a team a high floor. Next man up winning games with Waters/Heild as the big 2. Also road heavy.
Chapman, what’s your take on how well (or not) other teams adapt to the intense trapping, blitzing, etc ? The conventional wisdom is that it can work in college, but only in spurts in the NBA.
The Celtics tried to protect their ballhandlers after halftime by setting screens closer to the half-court line and with long swing passes early in the clock, and it definitely helped them. Obviously, we can outwork teams for the whole game because of our depth, but with preparation good teams will eventually punish you for doubling, especially in a playoff series.
It’s the biggest concern I have after 8 games.
Yeah if they were doing it to much, but this seems like something where its more built into the scouting to trap certain players in certain situations.
I think the hallmark of the 22 team that was very good defensively is that they would just mix up coverages. Go to zone without a stoppage for a play or two than back to man. Guys get used to seeing the same coverage so if you throw a box and one on Luka for 4 plays it really disrupts his timing. That DAL team they beat in the WCF was a pretty good team, but they walked through them like nothing and it was mostly the defense just constantly disrupting there flow.
I thought there were a few defensive breakdowns that led to a couple open 3s in that 3rd, but I thought the bigger thing was the celtics got really lucky for like 5 min where every miss ricocheted right into BOS lap. Like this wasnt positioning or outworking on the boards they just got a bunch of oops I found it O boards while also getting scorching from 3.
Warriors were missing key rotation players also, including the only PG’s other than Curry. They played 18 minutes without a ball-handler, and still managed to take Celtics apart.
Same old story. GSW owns the Celts, and Tatum can’t meet the moment.
Point Kyle Anderson you mean lols…
Wolves are going to miss that guy
Warriors are for real?
Without Curry, Warriors can make playoffs?
Last year GSW won 5 games without Steph. This year, they are already 0-3 without him.
In 2021-22, they had to play 30 games without him, and they won the ‘Chip.
Of course, they won’t win a playoff series without him.
How can they be 0-3 without him when they’ve only lost 1 game??
Good catch. I meant 3-0
We knew what you meant. All good.
Difference between Curry and LeBron if a coach yelled at LeBron he would get fired. JJ needs to get his man’s pants on and tell Lebron Bronny is going to the GLeague.
Currys just outside staples with 3 bottles on his hands. “Lebron come out to SF and play with me”.
Go ahead LBJ demand a trade to the Ws…
Redick already yelled at LeBron in the Phoenix game to “to shoot the f’in ball) and the Lakers as planned already assigned Bronny to the G-League. Bronny is with the main roster for the 76ers game Friday then debuts with the South Bay Lakers in their season opener in Saturday.
Finally they send him down. Lakers need a bench and Oliveri should be the PG off the bench. They need some youth excitement into the game. Should cut Reddish he looks like a G league player just hanging around for a paycheck.
Durant may be playing very well, but “MVP level” only applies to Jokic atm.
Cant win MVP on a 7th seed. This team loses every single game Joker misses this year I think. They have also gotten some luck late vs bad teams they could easily be 2-5 right now.
Its true, Curry (and Dray) not clocking that those cross-court passes are getting lower and lower percentage by the day is a misfire by both of them that they need to adjust to.
Kerr telling the warriors it cost them last year so we will see less of them.
DeAngelo Russell plays his best ball in June!
Unfortunately, that’s not in the playoffs or Finals, but back at Ohio State in the practice gym with young Buckeyes who are in awe of him when he comes to visit – not sure if those visits are to clear his head or to get his confidence back, or both.
But, if he could ever translate that play back to real nba games, he’d be on to something!
There are players who want to be all stars. There are are players who want to be the best they can be. Then there are players who just want that NBA check. Playing professional sports. Is about winning. I could never have a player on my team who’s only there for the check. Russell should not be starting on any team.