Warriors’ Steve Kerr is angry at referees for missing Nuggets timeout

DENVER – An angry Steve Kerr yelled at the officials after Golden State’s 119-115 loss in Denver on Tuesday night, saying the team didn’t see Nuggets guard Christian Braun signal a timeout after 1.9 seconds had secured a loose ball before the end – but Denver no longer has any timeouts.

Kerr argued that a technical foul should have been called against Denver, which would have given the Warriors a free throw and possession of the ball. Instead, team manager Tyler Ford called for a jump ball with 1.9 seconds left in the game and the Warriors trailing by four seconds.

“Braun called a timeout,” Kerr said. “He jumped to the ground, he turned around. Everyone saw it except the three guys we hired for the games and that makes me angry. This is a technical foul. You don’t have any more time off. We throw a free kick. Throw, we get the ball, we have a chance to win the game.

“They (officials) all told me they didn’t see it. … It’s up to the referees to see it. That’s why we have three of them. Someone has to see it. So yeah, that made me crazy.”

Ford told a pool reporter after the game that the Nuggets did not call a technical foul because none of the officials saw Braun clearly signaling a timeout.

“Christian Braun never fully or clearly signaled a timeout,” Ford said. “Therefore, no timeout was recognized.”

Braun said he knew his team was out of timeouts because Denver coach Michael Malone and his staff had talked about it.

“No,” Braun said when asked if he called “timeout.” “Maybe that’s what it looked like. I fumbled the ball on the ground a little. My hands were moving, but the referees didn’t say so.”

It was a frustrating end for the Warriors, who lost their fifth straight game by blowing a six-point lead with 2:32 left in the final. Denver trailed Golden State by 11 points with 6:13 left, but closed the game on a 21-6 run.

The Warriors played without Draymond Green, who was sidelined with left calf strain and will undergo an MRI on Wednesday, according to Kerr.

With Green watching from the bench, the Warriors couldn’t stop reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, who finished the game with 38 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals.

Stephen Curry had 24 points, 11 assists and 7 rebounds for the Warriors, who now travel to Houston for an NBA Cup quarterfinal game next week. Had the Warriors won on Tuesday, they would have hosted the Dallas Mavericks next week instead.

“That’s not the reason we lost,” Kerr said of the Braun game. “We lost because we didn’t catch up. Again. This is like the fifth game in a row where we’ve had – maybe not all five (losses) – but most of these games in this phase we don’t get a finish. “We don’t execute, we don’t score good ones Decisions and things have to get better.”

The Warriors blew a 17-point lead in a 55-13 loss at San Antonio in the finale on Nov. 23. They then blew an 18-point third-quarter lead against the Brooklyn Nets at home on November 25th.

After starting the season 12-3, Golden State is now 12-8 and plays Houston and Minnesota at home this weekend.

“We turned the ball over three or four times in the last few minutes of the first half and gave up a 12-point lead because we were trying to hit home runs,” Kerr said. “And this league is unforgiving. When you think you’re going to make it onto a highlight reel and show everyone what a special play you can make, it’s going to be a turnover. We have to meet singles, we have to make simple decisions.” . And when we do that, we are really good.

“…We need to become a better decision-making team. And that’s frustrating at the moment. Poor decisions lead to poor possession, which leads to this losing streak.”