Kerr didn't like Warriors' lack of defensive focus vs. Nets

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In two games against the Brooklyn Nets this season, the Warriors have allowed an average of 129.5 points and are 0-2. Even with Draymond Green on the court for Saturday night's clash at Chase Center after missing the season opener in Brooklyn, the Nets put up 134 points, including 42 in the third quarter.

The Warriors remain without a healthy center as James Wiseman and Kevon Looney work their way back from injuries, but coach Steve Kerr didn't believe that was the primary issue with his team's defense.

"I didn't like our defensive focus, they were getting behind us in transition, we fouled jump shooters in the first half," Kerr told reporters after the 134-117 loss. "Offensively we didn't make them guard, we were just taking quick shots and we didn't seem to have a sense of how to win the game.

"So I didn't think it had to do with a lack of center."

Brooklyn finished with six players in double figures, and three more off the bench who had at least eight points.

Kerr also said he wasn't sure the Warriors came into the night with the right mindset, as Brooklyn features by far the NBA's most potent trio of offensive players in Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving.

"We didn't play a very mindful game," Kerr said. "You gotta come into a game like this, knowing you're an underdog, and knowing you've got to follow a gameplan and you've gotta have a plan how to beat them, and it felt like we were just out there hooping without much of a plan."

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The game definitely had the feel of an open gym-style atmosphere, with players simply looking for open shots and operating within basic sets as opposed to a more defined scheme. Both the Warriors (second) and Nets (fifth) rank in the top-five in pace among NBA teams, and that was evident from the jump in Saturday night's game.

The Warriors no longer have the firepower to run up and down with a juggernaut like the Nets offensively. Kerr spoke before the season about wanting the Warriors to be a defense-oriented group this season, and they still rank seventh in defensive rating through 26 games.

Luckily for the Warriors, that concludes the season series between these two squads. Kerr's team will have the chance to get back at it next week against a pair of struggling Eastern Conference units in the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat.

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