Steve Kerr Explains Warriors Collapse, Hints At Cousins' Lengthy Absence

The Los Angeles Clippers made history on Monday night after coming back from the biggest deficit in NBA playoff history to beat reigning back-to-back champions Golden State Warriors 135-131 in Game 2 to tie the seven-game series at 1-1. Doc Rivers’ team were down by 31 points with 7:31 left in the third quarter but turned it around.

The Warriors just collapsed in the second-half, something that was unseen in the Steve Kerr era. The Clippers scored 72 points in the final 20 minutes of the game, compared to Warriors’ 37, to level the series going to the Staple Center for Game 3.

The Clippers were led by Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell, who combined for 61 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds from the bench to make a miserable night for the Warriors, who looked to be cruising to the win in Game 2. Danilo Gallinari scored 24 points and was the only starter to cross the 20-point mark.

It was a night coach Kerr and the rest of the team would want to put behind them as soon as possible. The Warriors now have 21 turnovers in the first two games, which has very rarely happened before and Kerr admitted they “stopped playing” in the second-half.

“We stopped playing, we kinda disconnected mid third quarter and lost our defensive edge. I mean they scored 85 points in the second-half, I feel we had a good job defensively in the first-half. We kind of messed with the game and when you do that you are in trouble especially in the playoffs,” Kerr said after the loss.

Moreover, Kerr confirmed that DeMarcus Cousins’ left quad injury was a significant one, likely to rule him out for the rest of the season. The big center went down with the injury after playing just four minutes and was expected to be out for a while.

The former New Orleans Pelicans center only returned in January from an Achilles injury that kept him out for a year and was slowly getting back to his best in the games leading up to the playoffs. Cousins’ absence will be a big miss in the playoffs but Kevin Looney’s presence will give Kerr a good alternative along with Andrew Bogut, who joined the Warriors in March.