The Golden State Warriors came away with a 118-112 win over the Boston Celtics on the road on Wednesday in what was a matchup of arguably the two best teams in the NBA in the early going, and head coach Steve Kerr spoke on Stephen Curry's turnover and how the Celtics took advantage of it.
“Everyone else is playing fast and shooting threes, too, these days,” Steve Kerr said, via Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “Boston shot 20 more threes than we did in the second half. So it's tough to win if you are giving away possessions. I've been all over Steph and Draymond. It's incumbent upon them because they are our leaders and they're the guys who handle the ball most. They gotta cut back on their bad decisions like that.”
Kerr was hard on Curry for the turnover, and he praised the franchise player for being open to criticism, despite the standing he has with the Warriors franchise and in the league.
“The beauty with Steph is he lets me yell at him, which sets the tone,” Kerr said, via Slater. “He accepted it. He knew it.”
Stephen Curry's mindset on criticism from Warriors coach Steve Kerr
Curry opened up on how Kerr holds him accountable while making a bit of a cheeky statement as well.
“I didn't have another turnover after that,” Curry proudly said in response, vis Slater. “… It's a mindset that, one, I want to be coached just like everyone else. I don't get sensitive about getting yelled at if you make a dumb play. Especially because it led to a three on the other end. It's avoidable. We have to be able to take care of possessions. Me and Draymond are going to have turnovers. We have the ball in our hands a lot, gonna take chances here and there. But there are turnovers like that where even if (Anderson) catches it, it's a tough play.”
The fact that Kerr is able to hold Curry accountable creates a bit of a trickle down to the rest of the team, because if he is accountable with all that he has accomplished, then everyone else should be as well. That has been a good recipe so far this season, as the team is 7-1 after eight games. After a disappointing 2023-2024 campaign, the Warriors are clicking so far this year, and it will be interesting to see if they can remain among the top contenders.