Kurtenbach: The Warriors were too eager and too disjointed to finish the Nuggets. Steve Kerr saw it coming

Warriors coach Steve Kerr has eight NBA championship rings — 5 as a participant and three in his present function.

There may be just a few individuals who know easy methods to win within the playoffs in addition to Kerr, however nobody is aware of greater than him.

Preserve that in thoughts after I let you know that the Warriors will beat the Denver Nuggets within the staff’s first-round playoff collection.

However on Sunday, Golden State missed its likelihood to handle enterprise and finish the collection within the minimal 4 video games. Denver beat the Warriors 126-121, forcing a Sport 5 Wednesday in San Francisco.

Kerr noticed the loss coming. He warned his staff within the first quarter.

They didn’t heed the lesson till it was too late.

With the Warriors trailing the Nuggets early, Kerr known as a timeout and known as out his staff. ESPN cameras picked all of it up:

“It feels to me like we odor blood and we’re making an attempt too onerous,” Kerr stated. “We’re going for the kill. It doesn’t work that method. You get the kill by executing to dying — simply executing again and again.”

The Warriors had their moments in Sport 4, Sunday, however they had been just too rare and finally inadequate. The execution was, certainly, lower than par over the course of 48 minutes.

The Warriors had been too keen and too disjointed to shut out the Nuggets.

“It took us a very long time to get going,” Kerr stated after the sport. “We didn’t play our sport tonight.”

Maybe that’s an vital lesson realized for this staff. I feel that’s ascribing an excessive amount of which means to the second. Sunday was nothing greater than a missed alternative for the Dubs.

The true which means of Sunday’s sport shall be outlined on Wednesday.

A proud Denver staff, paired with a referee crew that was someway much more disjointed than the Warriors, ensured that Sunday could be the Golden State’s hardest sport of the collection.

Wednesday ought to show to be even harder, even with home-court benefit. Denver now has some confidence and has nothing to lose. The Warriors have only a smidgen of strain on them heading into Sport 5.

If the Warriors can gradual themselves down on offense and keep away from making a symphony of whistles with late rotations on protection, the Sport 4 loss gained’t imply a lot within the grand scheme of issues.

Sure, they’ll need to play another sport this postseason than they need to, however another isn’t a big situation for the Warriors. Their second-round opponent — both Memphis or Minnesota — is assured to play no less than six video games.

Now, if the Warriors need to go to Denver once more for a Sport 6, we’ll have one thing important to debate with this Dubs staff.

However even after a poor efficiency Sunday, I see causes to be bullish on the Warriors forward of Sport 5; causes to imagine this loss was a one-off for the collection.

That’s as a result of as lopsided as the sport was — Denver made 15-of-31 3-pointers — it was shut within the ultimate minutes.

Golden State performed possibly 10 complete minutes of engaged, high quality basketball Sunday.

Draymond Inexperienced used an expletive within the postgame press convention to explain the Warriors’ crummy protection in Sport 4.

“That falls on me,” he stated.

Jordan Poole, the breakout star of the postseason, went 3-for-10 from the ground.

The Warriors’ true bench gamers (which means everybody however Steph Curry) made three pictures all evening.

The Dubs turned it over 11 occasions within the first half and had 27 fouls known as in opposition to them within the sport.

What a large number it was.

And but there have been the Warriors, in place to finish Denver’s season late within the fourth quarter. That speaks volumes concerning the high quality of this operation, even when we didn’t see sufficient of it on Sunday.

Credit score the unimaginable — however collectively inconsistent — trio of Curry (15 fourth-quarter factors), Klay Thompson (seven made 3-pointers), and Inexperienced (plus-18 within the sport, however fouled out with 2:05 to play within the sport).

Finally, although, the Warriors’ early-game failures proved the distinction. They by no means dug themselves out of their early gap of exuberance and maybe hubris, too.

Tip your hat to the Nuggets, although. As a substitute of getting an early begin on their spring holidays, they performed a full 48 minutes with critical gumption. That might not have been simple to do, seeing as no staff in NBA historical past has ever come again from a 3-0 deficit. Denver’s gamers, deep down, need to know they won’t be the exception, as evidenced by the Warriors’ likelihood to win late on Sunday afternoon.

I didn’t see that form of effort coming. Not after the primary three video games of the collection.

However on Sunday, the Nuggets had been worthy adversaries to the Warriors.

This Golden State staff has what it takes to win a title. The primary three video games of this collection confirmed that.

However the Warriors will not be so good that they can’t be crushed. Sport 4 confirmed that.

The Warriors simply took what would be the first of what’s going to be many punches this postseason.

I’m fascinated to see how they counter.