Kerr speaks about the team's struggles after dropping their second straight game since Jimmy Butler's season-ending injury.
The Golden State Warriors are finding out just how hard it is to win without Jimmy Butler.
The team fell 123-115 to the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night at American Airlines Center in what was their second straight loss since Butler tore his ACL on Monday.
The Warriors came into this game looking to get back on track, but they left Dallas with more questions than answers about how they will move forward without their star forward.
Stephen Curry did everything he could to keep the Warriors in the game, pouring in 38 points on 14-of-27 shooting and hitting eight three-pointers.
It was a reminder of just how much the future Hall of Famer can still carry a team, but even his best effort was not enough.
The loss dropped Golden State to 25-21 on the season, while Dallas improved to 19-26 with their fourth straight win.
Kerr Acknowledges the Challenges Ahead#
After the game, Steve Kerr offered a candid look at the team's box score and how the Warriors will have to adjust going forward.
He pointed out an interesting wrinkle in the stat sheet that showed just how much the team is leaning on Curry right now.
"He's obviously very capable, as he showed tonight," Kerr said of Curry to reporters in Dallas. "Ironically, the non-Steph minutes were actually really good tonight. It's a really weird box score. Steph has 38 points, he's a minus-24."
The Warriors have now lost both games since Butler went down with his season-ending torn ACL against the Miami Heat on Monday.
Butler had been averaging 20.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.9 assists while shooting 51.9 percent from the field this season before the injury, and his absence is already being felt on both ends of the floor.
Rebounding Woes and Shooting Struggles Hurt Golden State#
The Mavericks controlled the glass throughout the night and outrebounded the Warriors 54-35, which made it tough for Golden State to get second-chance points or limit Dallas on the offensive boards.
Naji Marshall led the Mavericks with 30 points and nine assists while Cooper Flagg added 21 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
Curry and De'Anthony Melton were the only Warriors to score more than 15 points, with Melton adding 22 off the bench.
The situation got even more complicated when Jonathan Kuminga left the game in the second quarter with a left knee injury after stepping on a defender's foot.
Kuminga had been playing well after returning to the rotation following Butler's injury, and Kerr told reporters he will undergo an MRI on his knee and ankle on Friday.
Warriors Face Uphill Battle Moving Forward#
The Warriors are now trying to figure out how to stay competitive without Butler, and the road ahead looks difficult.
Golden State's offense has leaned heavily on Curry for years, but having Butler as a secondary creator allowed the team to compete even when Curry went to the bench or had an off night.
The Mavericks were playing without their top three rim protectors in Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, and Daniel Gafford, yet the Warriors still could not take advantage by attacking the paint consistently.
Golden State shot just 15-of-46 from three-point range, with players not named Curry going 7-of-31 from deep.
That kind of shooting is not going to win many games, especially on the road.
With the trade deadline coming up on Feb. 5, the Warriors have some decisions to make about how they want to build around Curry for the rest of this season.
The team had been playing well before Butler went down, winning 12 of their previous 16 games, but that momentum has quickly disappeared.
The challenge now is finding a way to keep the offense moving without asking Curry to carry an impossible burden every night.
The Warriors will look to snap their losing streak when they visit the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.