Why Kerr firmly believes Dubs will ‘make a run' down the stretch

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Throughout the ups and downs of the Warriors' rollercoaster season, one thing has remained consistent: Head coach Steve Kerr's belief that Golden State remains close to making a push to contention.

Even after a blowout road loss to the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night, that sentiment still rang true to Kerr.

"I really believe this team is going to make a run down the stretch," Kerr said to reporters during a postgame video conference. "I know it's been and up and down season, and we're in the midst of a really tough stretch with COVID protocols, injuries ... but I really believe in this group. I think we're going to make a good run down the stretch and I think it's coming."

The Warriors were without starters Steph Curry and Draymond Green on Thursday and struggled from the start. They were lethargic on defense and couldn't match the energy of a surging Sacramento team, powered by a career-high 44 points from De'Aaron Fox.

At 22-23, the Warriors have had their fair share of tough losses, but Thursday's seemed to be a particularly low point for the team. Still, it didn't seem to deter Kerr, who stressed multiple reasons why he believes the Warriors will turn it around.

"I just felt like we've been close for a while," he said. "We were terribly defensively tonight, but in general this year we've been pretty good defensively. I think getting James [Wiseman] more minutes and getting him more comfortable will help. 

"Draymond and Steph have both played at a high level this year, so getting them both healthy, in the lineup with more home games in the last 20 [games] or so, I think that bodes well. And I believe in these guys."

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That will certainly need to be the case, should the Warriors hope to slide in to playoff picture. By retaining Kelly Oubre Jr. and Kevon Looney at the NBA trade deadline, Golden State showed that's their plan for the season. 

But to achieve that goal, the Warriors will need to play much better than they have of late, and the run Kerr is envisioning needs to happen sooner rather than later.

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