Klay hopes for fresh start after Dubs' ‘road trip from hell'

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The Warriors' confidence remains high despite an ugly 0-5 road trip that saw the defending NBA champions lose to the Eastern Conference's three worst teams. 

Golden State started its road trip with back-to-back losses to the Charlotte Hornets (3-7) and Detroit Pistons (2-8) before losing to the Miami Heat (4-6), Orlando Magic (2-8) and New Orleans Pelicans (5-4). 

In speaking to reporters after Warriors practice Sunday, Klay Thompson discussed what he was encouraged by in Friday's loss to the Pelicans, which wrapped up the Warriors' hellish road trip.

"I saw just a connectivity that we might have been lacking on the road trip, so it was good to see everybody connecting, playing hard," Thompson said. "I don't think our record is reflective of our efforts, so that's good. And these guys had a chance to win the game and that's all we can ask from a bunch of new guys.

"It seemed like a road trip from hell, but we're all very grateful to get home in one piece and hopefully start a win streak here. We know how good we are in this building, so I think we're going to be off to a fresh start come tomorrow."

Having lost five straight games, the defending champs surprisingly are not in unfamiliar territory.

Golden State had multiple ugly stretches last season, two of which resulted in the Warriors losing 9 of 11 games from Feb. 9 to March 7 and then seven of eight games from March 16-30.

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Of course, the rest was history, which is why coach Steve Kerr is not panicking. 

"A year ago, we lost nine out of 11 games in March and won the championship a couple months later," Kerr told reporters Sunday. "So there are just times in the NBA season where things can go off the rails a little bit and a big part of being a great team, being a solid organization is understanding how to work through that."

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Kevon Looney was a key contributor in helping the Warriors find their footing down the stretch and knows exactly what it takes to right the ship with a revamped roster.

"We have that confidence, we just have to learn how to execute and learn how to win together as this new group," Looney explained. "Last year we had to figure that out too. We won early and then we had some rough patches, so we had to really had to figure out how to win together as a new unit."

The Warriors will look to bounce back against the Sacramento Kings (3-5) on Monday night at Chase Center. After a three-day break, Golden State will face the red-hot Cleveland Cavaliers (7-1) on Friday night to conclude its two-game homestand. 

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