The Warriors failed to take a shot during the final possession of their 134-133 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Thursday at Chase Center, much to the disappointment of their fans in attendance and watching at home.
As Golden State scrambled to find an open look with the seconds ticking down, it seemed like a reasonable moment to call a timeout -- but no one did.
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After the loss, Warriors coach Steve Kerr and point guard Steph Curry explained why the final possession played out like it did.
"I trust -- you know, these guys have been together for so long, I really prefer the scramble situations at the end of games, where a defense can't get set up and make subs," Kerr told reporters after the game. "This is one that, it keeps you up at night. But we got to the picture we wanted, we got the Steph-Draymond [Green] pick-and-roll at the top, we had good spacing.
"I thought maybe we were going to get Draymond on the roll with the spacing on either side and get a good shot because they doubled Steph. But he didn't, he just couldn't get it to Draymond in that situation. They did a good job of doubling him, and when the play's over, then you're like ... Yeah, could have taken a timeout.
"It's always a difficult decision down the stretch, but I've seen those guys convert in that situation a million times, and, like I said, we got to the picture we wanted eventually. Just didn't pan out."
Golden State Warriors
Curry also admitted he should have called a timeout in the game's final seconds, revealing the Warriors' decision they wouldn't take one came before Kings guard Kevin Huerter missed two crucial free throws near the end of the fourth quarter.
"Me and Coach kind of agreed we're going to take [the ball down the court]," Curry told reporters after the game. "... Once [Huerter] missed the second one, Klay [Thompson] got a great rebound, but we already committed to going. At that point, it's obviously chaos, just trying to get over halfcourt and see where the defense was.
"Once [Jonathan Kuminga] gave it to me, at that point, that's probably where the timeout -- I either should have seen it or Coach or whoever just to know that there's, like, eight people on one side of the court, and we had a screen, they trapped and I was trying to get the ball back to Draymond to see what could happen.
"So, I would say there probably should have been a timeout right when I got the ball and turned and saw that the court wasn't balanced right, and we still had plenty of time. But the chaos of the moment, you're trying to make a play and sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn't."
Rather than potentially making a game-winning shot at home, the Warriors lost the ball -- and the game. Their regular-season series against the Kings ended with each team winning two games apiece, but the Northern California rivals could meet again in the NBA playoffs if everything can come together for Golden State.
But moving forward, the Warriors certainly will need better time management if they want to win close games like Thursday's.
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