Despite the return of Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, the Golden State Warriors only got away with a win on the road against the Los Angeles Lakers in overtime, 127-123.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr was asked postgame about the decline in effectiveness of the patented small-ball “Death Lineup” this season, but Kerr turned the issue into the team's competitiveness, saying the defending champions haven't been as good this year simply because they haven’t competed well enough.

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The Warriors are now in Year 4 of an unprecedented run of success. They’ve won two championships, gone to the NBA Finals three straight times, set the all-time regular-season wins mark and nearly went through last year’s playoffs undefeated.

At some point, complacency has to set in, and that point has seemingly come this season. The Warriors may still be the best team in the league, but they don’t feel the need to show it every single night over the course of a long, grueling regular season. That will result in performances like the Lakers game, where they don't go full tilt and only just scrape by.

Steve Kerr’s job as the coach is to prevent that complacency from completely setting in and becoming a habit, which is likely why he’s making such pointed statements toward his team and its levels of competitiveness.