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Stephen Curry: Warriors 'Dropped the Ball' in Blowout Loss; 'It Just Stings'
April 28, 2021
Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry said the team "dropped the ball" in Tuesday night's 133-103 blowout loss to the Dallas Mavericks, which featured a 28-0 Mavs run in the first half.
"It just stings getting blown out. We know the context of the season," Curry told reporters. "... We dropped the ball, didn't play well, didn't really have any life that first quarter. It's a tough one."
He added: "It's a matter of remembering who we are, remember our identity. ... We have 10 games to sprint to the finish line. We still have a good opportunity."
The Warriors had played well coming into the clash with the Mavericks with seven wins over the previous nine games to create some breathing room between themselves and the 11th-seeded New Orleans Pelicans for the final berth in the Western Conference play-in tournament.
Golden State (31-31) still holds a 3.5-game lead over New Orleans (27-34) for the final spot.
While most of the focus Tuesday was on the Warriors' inability to score during their nearly 10-minute drought, head coach Steve Kerr pinpointed the defense as a continued area of concern heading into the final 10 games of the campaign.
"I'm not that concerned about a nine-minute scoring drought," Kerr said. "I'm concerned about defense. I'm concerned about a level of intensity and preparation and competitiveness. That's what was missing. I'm the head coach, and I did not have them ready to play, clearly."
The Mavs shot 52.2 percent from the field and knocked down 18 threes in the blowout.
Golden State has a favorable schedule over its next six games with four matchups against the bottom three teams in the West (two against the Oklahoma City Thunder and one apiece with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets) and two head-to-head meetings with the Pelicans.
If the Dubs can take care of business during that stretch, they should either clinch a playoff berth or be very close to doing so heading into a more difficult four-game finish to the regular season with games against the Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, Memphis Grizzlies and Pelicans again.
It also helps that the Warriors finish the season with a six-game homestand, so there are a lot of things working in their favor despite Tuesday's forgettable loss.