NBA

Warriors destruction by Raptors 'humiliating for everybody involved'

By Sports Desk April 03, 2021 1407

The Golden State Warriors' destruction at the hands of the Toronto Raptors was "humiliating for everyone involved", coach Steve Kerr said.

The Raptors routed the six-time NBA champions 130-77 on Friday to make light of a poor streak of form that saw them lose 13 of their previous 14 games.

The Warriors were without injured duo Stephen Curry and Draymond Green - leaving them "rudderless", Kerr said - as they became the first team in 25 years to lose by at least 50 points and not score a fast-break point.

"You saw it," said Kerr. "We just got destroyed. Not a whole lot to be said. Humiliating for everybody involved."

Pascal Siakam led the way for Toronto, with a season-high 36 points on his 27th birthday, seven rebounds and five assists, while OG Anunoby and Gary Trent Jr also went above 20 points each.

By contrast, Andrew Wiggins' 15 was the best score for Golden State, who capitulated after trailing 27-26 at the end of the first quarter to fall 60 points behind with under five minutes left of the contest.

"I just think the game went south on us quickly and we got demoralised," Kerr said. "I think without Steph and Draymond out there I think we were a little bit rudderless when things went south. We didn't have the internal fight that we needed to kind of get over the hump."

"Our team has been built on sharing the ball," Kerr said. "When you move the ball in this game, that's when the magic happens, when you build an energy, a karma, the shots tend to go in if you move the ball and you share it. And I just saw one possession after another tonight that was one pass and a shot. We've got to play for each other, and I didn't think we did that tonight."

With the Warriors 10th in the Western Conference in a season blighted by inconsistency, Kerr believes now is the time for some "serious" internal talks.

"As a coach, you try to navigate the season with your team as best you can," he added. "So there's times for humour, there's times for joy, there's times for serious discussion and soul-searching. This is a time for soul-searching for sure."

Last modified on Saturday, 03 April 2021 06:51
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