It was widely expected that the Golden State Warriors would take care of business against the Denver Nuggets on Monday night, thereby extending their winning streak to eight games. The Nuggets were without Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Christian Braun on the night, while the Warriors had their near full-strength squad (they were only without Brandin Podziemski). However, the Warriors seemed to let their foot off the gas pedal, as the shorthanded Nuggets took a rather convincing 114-105 victory.
All night long, it looked like the Warriors thought that everything was going to come together at some point in the game, but they never did. And head coach Steve Kerr did not mince his words when he said that this was a loss that was very much deserved considering how poorly they played on the night.
“It’s hard to win an NBA game when you turn the ball over to the other team 10 times. That’s what we were facing tonight. They played a great game. We’ve seen it a million times. This is how it works in the NBA. The other team’s guys go nuts, they can’t wait to play, there’s no pressure. We’ve seen it a lot. We didn’t respond right away. We played poorly out of the gates and never found rhythm. They played great. The right team won. We didn’t deserve [to win]. We were awful,” Kerr said in his postgame presser, via Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
Steve Kerr: “We got what we deserved.”
On what sparked his agitated first quarter timeout huddle: “Bad body language.” pic.twitter.com/PWQ2fBDYIl
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 18, 2025
Kerr also called out the Warriors’ poor body language that set the tone for what ended up being a night to forget.
“Body language was bad,” Kerr added. “We got what we deserved, for sure.”
The Warriors don’t have much time to lick their wounds; they go at it again tomorrow night when they host the Milwaukee Bucks at home in a game where they will potentially be without Stephen Curry.
Warriors’ worst enemy is themselves
Whenever the Warriors are on a roll, their worst enemy ends up being themselves. As Steve Kerr said, they were careless with the basketball and didn’t match the Nuggets’ energy whatsoever. This also showed in their lethargy on the glass, as the Nuggets took them to the woodshed on the boards (53 total boards for Denver, 19 on the offensive glass, compared to 38 for Golden State).
In the aftermath of the Jimmy Butler trade, the Warriors have proven that they can play excellent basketball in a sustainable fashion. But they have plenty of room to improve especially if they learn to avoid shooting themselves on the foot.
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