The Golden State Warriors have become one of the most talked-about teams in the NBA this season, and it hasn't always been for the best reasons. After a hot start, the Warriors have regressed mightily and are now battling for a play-in spot in the Western Conference as the season approaches its halfway point.
On Wednesday night, the Warriors were finally able to pick up a hard-fought win. Steve Kerr and Golden State went into Minnesota and were able to grind out a 116-115 win over the Timberwolves to get back to .500 on the season at 20-20. After the game, Kerr quickly put to rest any notion that the Warriors were giving up in the face of adversity, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
Steve Kerr: “I hope there’s not a misconception that we are not fighting and scrapping and doing everything possible to keep this going. It almost feels like the narrative became the Warriors are giving in. We are not giving in. We’re just not gonna give away the future.”
“I hope there’s not a misconception that we are not fighting and scrapping and hoping that we can do everything possible to keep this going, because that's what we're doing. It almost feels like the narrative became the Warriors are giving in. We are not giving in. We’re just not gonna give away the future. It's two totally different things. We're fighting, you can see we've been competitive all year. We've had a few blowouts but for the most part our guys are competing like crazy.”
The Warriors were carried by Stephen Curry in this one, as they are on so many other nights. The superstar point guard finished the game with 31 points, including a huge 3-pointer to give the Warriors a late lead and put the game in their control.
Kerr's comments stem from narratives surrounding comments that Curry made after Monday night's loss to the Toronto Raptors, where Curry essentially said that the front office should not make any reckless moves to improve the team right now that jeopardize the future of the team. Some people took that out of context and assumed that Curry meant that he didn't want to improve the roster, which is not true.
At .500, the Warriors are back to 10th place in the Western Conference, which is very crowded at the moment. In order to get into more comfortable playoff position, Curry and company will have to go on a little bit of a run, which they have shown that they are more than capable of doing. Maybe this big win over the Timberwolves will be enough for them to kickstart another winning streak.
