For the first time all season, vibes were good for the Golden State Warriors. After spending most of the season hovering around or even below .500, Golden State finally got hot. The Warriors went 11-3 in the month of February including statement wins against quality teams like the Pacers, Suns, Lakers, and Knicks. They won their first game of March as well, beating the Raptors in Toronto.
The Warriors had taken each of the first three games of their four-game East Coast road trip and were looking for their 12th win in their last 14 games as they prepared to face the Boston Celtics. Even a close loss would've meant things were still heading in the right direction. What we witnessed on Sunday was anything but.
The Warriors were defeated 140-88 in a game they didn't stand a chance in from the moment the ball was tipped. They trailed by 44 points at halftime and lost the game by 52. Not a great look for the Warriors and the newly extended Steve Kerr.
The Steve Kerr $35 million contract extension is aging well https://t.co/NYAl7j2Tb6
— Gill Boldberg (@Gill_Boldberg) March 3, 2024
Warriors fans unleash on Steve Kerr after embarrassing loss in Boston
Kerr was given a two-year extension worth a whopping $35 million. His $17.5 million AAV set a record for a coach and made him the sixth-highest-paid Warrior per Spotrac. Kerr has been the man in charge throughout this Warriors dynasty so it made sense that Golden State wanted to keep him around, but to have this happen just eight days after the extension was agreed to gave the Twitter trolls ultimate fuel.
warriors about to rip steve kerr’s extension up @ halftime
— brad auerbach (@CelticsPost) March 3, 2024
we gave Steve Kerr an extension because of a win streak against mid teams pic.twitter.com/iT9OqOKWk3
— sports enthusiast 🫥 (@imspenser_6) March 3, 2024
Steve Kerr at halftime of Celtics-Warriors pic.twitter.com/1E7iH1VXgv
— Bruno Starzz (@getsit) March 3, 2024
Steve Kerr when the junk defense gives Jaylen 20 points in 7 minutes https://t.co/Rol5UiYS7j pic.twitter.com/06NPshFOWC
— craig (@RondoBongos) March 3, 2024
Losing to a team like the Celtics is more than acceptable, especially on the road. The Celtics are now 48-12 on the season and are an absurd 29-3 at TD Garden. It'd be a big ask for this Warriors team to get the win, but to see them get completely blown out of the water is just unacceptable. The Warriors showed how big of a gap there truly is between these two teams.
Sure, the players deserve some blame. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Jonathan Kuminga combined to make just six of their 26 field goal attempts and scored just 16 points overall. The Warriors won't win any games with that kind of production. Still, the Warriors looked completely unprepared from the onset, which falls on the coach. Letting Jaylen Brown, an All-Star guard, shoot wide open shots on the perimeter falls on the coach as well.
Here’s Steve Kerr postgame after the 52-point loss in Boston. He said it didn’t concern him, “flush it”, and discusses the decision to have Draymond Green sag off Jaylen Brown.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 3, 2024
Also: Brandin Podziemski will return on Wednesday pic.twitter.com/MSOmPEwPtC
The Warriors playing as well as they had all season before this game gives them some leeway to just "flush it" as Kerr said postgame, but they're going to need immediate results, starting on Wednesday at home against the Bucks.