Steve Kerr rips Brandin Podziemski after late mistakes doom ...

DENVER — Steve Kerr spent the immediate moments after the Golden State Warriors’ Tuesday night loss to the Denver Nuggets chasing down official Tyler Ford, lighting into Ford’s entire crew for what he felt was a blatant missed call at a critical moment.

With four seconds left, Nuggets guard Christian Braun dove on the floor for a loose rebound and signaled for a timeout after corralling it. Denver didn’t have a timeout, which should’ve triggered a technical foul and a free throw. Assuming Stephen Curry would have made the free throw, Golden State would have had the ball down three with about 3.5 seconds left.

“Everybody saw it except the three guys we hired to do the game,” Kerr said.

The officials let the timeout signal go without a whistle, allowing the clock to run until Andrew Wiggins tied it up with 1.2 seconds left. The ensuing jump ball was of no use. The Warriors fell 119-115, a fifth consecutive loss which sends them on the road to Houston (instead of home for the Dallas Mavericks) for next week’s NBA Cup quarterfinal. It also sent Kerr steaming into a spirited postgame session with reporters.

Steve Kerr was extremely upset the officials didn’t call a technical on the Nuggets late when Christian Braun tried to call a timeout (and the Nuggets didn’t have one).

Full soundbite on that non-call and the loss pic.twitter.com/1AYDPJbRfx

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) December 4, 2024

After stinging the officials for the error, Kerr redirected the blame for another late-game collapse back at his team. The Warriors were up seven with 2:32 left after a Curry layup but watched the Nuggets rip off an 11-0 run to flip the result, a fifth straight narrow loss that has dropped the Warriors’ record from 12-3 to 12-8.

“I think we’re trying too hard,” Kerr said. “Guys are closing out without any type of discernment about what’s about to happen. We can’t send a team to the line 35 times and expect to win a game. This league is unforgiving. If you think you’re going to get on a highlight reel, show everybody what a special play you can make, it’s going to be a turnover. We gotta hit singles. We gotta make simple decisions.”

Kerr was particularly critical of second-year guard Brandin Podziemski.

The organization remains high on its most recent first-round pick in the near and long term. He exploded onto the scene as a rookie, working his way into a high-usage, high-leverage role ahead of Klay Thompson, among others, because of his quick passing, movement and decision-making, big rebound numbers, team defense and supplementary scoring. He led the team in plus-minus last season.

But as he’s tried to scale up his offensive game to meet rising expectations, Podziemski has opened his second season in a deep shooting slump that has bled into other aspects of his game. Draymond Green peeled back the curtain on the dynamics at play last week. Podziemski has shot it and played a bit better since. Kerr inserted him as the starting shooting guard next to Curry and said the plan is to keep him there.

But Podziemski is still 21, and the attached growing pains were on display against the Nuggets.

Kerr pinpointed a specific sequence late in the second quarter, calling a Podziemski decision to attempt a fast-break alley-oop “frankly insane.” It came with the Warriors up 10 and in full control. Podziemski had just dug out a steal on a failed Nikola Jokić drive and pushed it into the frontcourt with a numbers advantage.

An easy early pass to Trayce Jackson-Davis was available to his left as he crossed half court. It would’ve led to a likely dunk. But he instead probed into the lane and tried a lob, which was intercepted and turned into a Jokić layup on the other end. Any four-point swing like this is huge in a close game.

“Five-on-four,” Kerr said. “Keep hitting singles. Throw the ball to the open guy. He had the same play last week against Brooklyn when he tried to throw a lob over his shoulder. He cannot be that guy.”

The Warriors are ceding a large level of offensive control over to Podziemski. With De’Anthony Melton out for the season, Podziemski is both the starting shooting guard and the backup point guard. Kerr changed up Curry’s rotation on Tuesday night and staggered him with Podziemski, meaning Podziemski was leading the team at a critical juncture of the fourth quarter as Curry sneaked off the court for his final rest.

With the Warriors trying to protect a nine-point lead, Podziemski tried this whip pass to the opposite corner that went flying into the crowd.

Kerr’s frustration with Podziemski continued early in the third quarter. He pressed up too far on a Michael Porter Jr. 3-point attempt and tapped him on the arm, drawing a whistle. Podziemski tried to plead his case that he hadn’t committed a foul, but when Kerr pressed him to answer whether it would be reversed on a challenge, he admitted he did.

“He can’t foul jump shooters,” Kerr said.

Kerr then spent about 45 seconds while Porter was shooting the free throws lighting into Podziemski near the sideline.

“He was getting on me to do my job, know what I’m doing out there,” Podziemski said. “He’s like, ‘If you can’t do your job, I’m gonna pull you out.'”

Brandin Podziemski on his sideline interaction with Steve Kerr after one of his 3-point fouls

“He was getting on me to do my job, know what I’m doing out there. He’s like, ‘If you can’t do your job, I’m gonna pull you out.’” pic.twitter.com/KVQKTcL4Gg

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) December 4, 2024

In his final two possessions trying to keep the Warriors stable while Curry received a brief rest, Podziemski committed two more errors, as identified by Curry and Kerr postgame. Curry mentioned Podziemski’s decision to take a stepback 3 with 5:14 left instead of “hunting the mismatch” and letting Andrew Wiggins operate against Jokić.

That was compounded moments later when Podziemski barreled into Porter and fouled him on another 3-pointer. Porter made it, a four-point play that injected life into the Nuggets.

Podziemski did plenty well against the Nuggets. He had 13 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals. But the mistakes were glaring and detrimental enough for his coach to call him out publicly afterward.

“I love Brandin,” Kerr said. “Hell of a player. Hell of a future ahead of him. But I hope he watches this clip because he needs to hear it. He’s gotta be a smart, tough, great decision-maker. He’s very capable of it. That’s his next step.”

Said Podziemski: “He got on me a little bit. Which I’m all for. I’m trying to get better. He knows he can get on me and I’m not going to respond emotionally. I’m going to go out there and hoop.”

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(Photo: David Zalubowski / AP)