SAN FRANCISCO — Warriors coach Steve Kerr hasn’t experienced anything quite like this season before. Not only because the team is off to its worst start since he took over five years ago but also, as injuries deplete a championship core, the Warriors have played the last three games with just eight players. Kerr has deemed them the “Elite Eight.”
No team in the league has had players miss as many games due to injury as the Warriors. With Stephen Curry (broken hand) and Klay Thompson (ACL) sidelined for most of the season, Golden State is also facing injuries to Draymond Green (heel) D’Angelo Russell (thumb), Kevon Looney (neuropathy) and others.
With a largely inexperienced roster, the Warriors own the league’s worst record at 3-15. On Monday, they let a 15-point lead slip away in a 100-97 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. They have now lost 10 of the last 11 games.
“You need bodies in the NBA, especially to get through the long haul. And playing eight guys, as long as I’ve been doing this, 30, 31 years in the league, it seems like maybe once or twice a year you have eight guys. Maybe, because of crazy circumstances.
“So for us to be doing this almost routinely now is — I’ve never seen it. So it’s a testament to the group, the ‘Elite Eight,’ that I like to call them. The Elite Eight’s doing a hell of a job hanging in there.”
Despite the mounting losses and injuries, Kerr has tried to remain positive. He often points to the development of the young players, including rookies Eric Paschall, Jordan Poole and Ky Bowman, plus forwards Marquese Chriss and Omari Spellman, as signs of progress.
Maybe the most impressive thing about the Warriors this season is how hard they have played despite often facing double-digit deficits. Monday’s loss was rare in which they gave up a late lead.
“I think it’s important to keep accentuating the positives,” Kerr said. “We’ve gotten a lot better the last few weeks. And (it’s) not easy playing with eight guys. The effort was there and the defensive consistency has improved dramatically. The offensive execution for the most part during the game was purposeful.
“We took care of the ball, we moved the ball. Fourth quarter when the pressure came we didn’t execute, but that’s kind of the next step for this young group. So that’s what we’re aiming to improve upon as a group. The players, but also the coaches. We have to do our part to put them in the best position to succeed.”
The good news for the Warriors is that they could be getting some players back from injury soon. Green is questionable for Wednesday’s game against the Chicago Bulls while Looney recently returned to practice and is expected to play at some point on the Warriors’ upcoming five-game trip.
Even with the returns of Green and Looney looming, Golden State will still be without several key contributors — Jacob Evans (adductor), Alen Smailagic (ankle) and Damion Lee (hand) — for a while.
After losing Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston in the offseason, an adjustment period was expected. Newcomers would need time to learn the Warriors schemes, and incumbent players would need time to develop chemistry with their new teammates. Still, the Warriors were expected to contend for a playoff spot.
But after Curry broke his hand in the fourth game of the season, the organization’s goals pragmatically shifted from making the playoffs to developing a foundation the injured All-Stars could come back to. However, there may be no greater sign of progress than winning.
“Once Steph got hurt we had to revamp everything. So we’ve been doing a lot of stuff on the fly, but over the last couple weeks it feels like the group has jelled,” Kerr said. “Hopefully that will start showing up more in terms of wins instead of losses.”
