DENVER — A furious Steve Kerr screamed at officials following Golden State’s 119-115 loss at Denver on Tuesday night, saying the crew failed to see that Nuggets guard Christian Braun signaled for a timeout after securing a loose ball with 1.9 seconds left — despite Denver being out of timeouts.
Kerr argued that Denver should have been assessed a technical foul, which would have given the Warriors a free throw and possession of the ball. Instead, crew chief Tyler Ford called for a jump ball with 1.9 seconds remaining in the game and the Warriors trailing by four.
“Braun called a timeout,” Kerr said. “He dove on the floor, he rolled over. Everybody saw it except for the three guys we hire to do the games, and that makes me angry. That’s a technical foul. They don’t have a timeout left. We shoot a free throw, we get the ball, we got a chance to win the game.
“They [the 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. Somebody’s got to see it. So yeah, that made me mad.”
Ford told a pool reporter after the game that the Nuggets were not assessed a technical foul because none of the officials saw Braun clearly signal for a timeout.
“Christian Braun never fully or clearly signaled for a timeout,” Ford said. “Therefore a timeout was not recognized.”
Braun said he knew his team didn’t have a timeout remaining because Denver coach Michael Malone and his staff talked about it.
“No,” Braun said when asked if he called timeout. “It might’ve looked like it maybe. I was fumbling the ball on the ground a little bit. My hands moved, but the refs didn’t call it.”
It was a frustrating ending for the Warriors, who lost their fifth consecutive game by blowing a six-point lead in the final 2:32. Denver trailed Golden State by 11 with 6:13 left but finished the game on a 21-6 run.
The Warriors played without Draymond Green, who was sidelined by left calf tightness 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 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 have to travel to Houston next week for a quarterfinal NBA Cup game. Had the Warriors won Tuesday, they would’ve hosted the Dallas Mavericks next week instead.
“That’s not why we lost,” Kerr said of the Braun play. “We lost because we didn’t close. Again. This is like the fifth game in a row where we’ve — maybe not all five [losses] — but most of these games in this stretch, we’re not closing, we’re not executing, we’re not making good decisions, and it’s got to improve.”
The Warriors blew a 17-point lead in the final 13:55 in a loss at San Antonio on Nov. 23. They followed that up by squandering an 18-point third-quarter lead to the Brooklyn Nets at home on Nov. 25.
After starting the season 12-3, Golden State is now 12-8 and has a back-to-back at home this weekend against Houston and Minnesota.
“We turned it over three or four times in the last few minutes of the first half and gave up a 12-point lead because we tried to hit home runs,” Kerr said. “And this league is unforgiving. If you think you’re going to get on a highlight reel, show everybody what a special play you can make, it’s going to be a turnover. We got to hit singles, we got to make simple decisions. And when we do that, we’re really good.
“… We have to become a better decision-making team. And that’s frustrating right now. Poor decisions are leading to poor possessions, which is leading to this losing streak.”
