Steve Kerr has spent the better part of the last month preaching about the Warriors' need to rediscover the defensive identity that made them the best team in the NBA in the early part of the season.
With only a few weeks remaining in the regular season and Steph Curry out for at least two weeks, Kerr is doubling down on the Warriors' need to sharpen their defense to succeed in the playoffs.
“That’s what made us really good right away this season,” Kerr told reporters before Tuesday night's game against the Orlando Magic. “We established our defense the first 10 games of the year and the continuity of what we had with Steph and Draymond. We shot out of the gates and were able to win a lot of games because of our defense. We have to return to that. Not only to finish strong but to get ready for the playoffs. You can’t win in the playoffs without a strong defense. So that’s the focus, especially with Steph being out. We have to really lean into that even more.”
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In the first 25 games, the Warriors led the NBA with a defensive rating of 100.9 and had a 21-4 record. In their last 47 games, the Warriors have a defensive rating of 110.5. That is good for sixth in the NBA over that period but is still 10 points per 100 possessions worse than the pace they set at the start of the season.
Draymond Green missing 31 games due to a back injury had a significant impact on Golden State's defense, but the Warriors have issues that Green's return has yet to solve. That was evident Tuesday night in their head-scratching 94-90 loss to the Magic, a team with 19 total wins entering the night.
The Warriors only gave up 94 points but fouled Franz Wagner twice while shooting a 3-pointer. Wagner made all six free throws. Mistakes like that can be the difference between a win and a loss, especially when you're without your best player.
After the loss, Kerr noted the mental errors and sent a message to his team.
Golden State Warriors
"We have to execute better, and we have to be smarter," Kerr said. "We got to stop fouling 3-point shooters. That's killed us -- killed us the last two games. You take away the fouls on the 3-point shooters, and in my opinion, we win both games.
"We got to take care of the ball. We can't get illegal screens. We had a couple of just awful illegal screens, where we're completely out of position, and we know we're out of position. If that's the case, don't set a screen—mental mistakes. Be sharp on our switches, be sharp defensively. If the ball's on the ground, we got to go get the ball. There's got to be a level of discipline, of accountability, of competitive desire.
"I know these are great guys. I love these guys in the locker room. Awesome guys, and I know they want to win. But we have to learn how to win. And right now, we don't know how to win."
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Curry's absence will loom large over the Warriors as they hope to tread water and hang on to the No. 3 seed down the stretch.
Having Curry in the lineup can cover up a lot of issues, but Green was quick to note Tuesday that the two-time MVP can't help fix one of Golden State's most glaring issues.
"We're not losing the whole game, but we're losing a lot of fourth quarters," Green told reporters Tuesday. "That's execution. But, in order to execute, it requires a certain level of physicality, and we're not meeting that. No disrespect to the Orlando Magic, but that's one of the worst teams in the league, and we can't match that with them. If you can't match that with them, you're definitely not going to match it against a great team.
"That has zero to do with Steph," Green continued when asked if the lack of physicality was due to Curry's absence. "Steph's not bringing the level of physicality to the game. Nor should he. That's not his job. Obviously, Steph not being out there affects the mentality of the team as a whole. But I don't care who is out there. You go to the park and be outmatched, the team can have more size or whatever. You don't get punked. ... You can't get punked. That's what we're doing.
"Steph's out. You can sit me, you can sit [Andrew Wiggins], [Klay Thompson], sit [Jordan Poole]. You still shouldn't get punked, and that's what has been happening to us."
Curry expects to return for the start of the playoffs. The Warriors must hear the hard truths uttered by Kerr and Green and use the time without the two-time MVP to regain the edge, toughness, and grit that made them a title favorite in the early part of the season.
If they don't rediscover their defensive identity, it won't matter when Curry returns.