Wild ending to loss in Utah left Warriors wondering ‘what just happened’
The Warriors return home to host the Boston Celtics in a 2022 NBA Finals
rematch Saturday at Chase Center before hitting the road for a
six-games-in-nine-days trip.
>Utah Jazz forward Kelly Olynyk, left, defends as Golden State Warriors
guard Jordan Poole (3) shoots during the first half of an NBA basketball
game Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
By MADELINE KENNEY | mkenney@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: December 7, 2022 at 8:38 p.m. | UPDATED: December 8, 2022 at
10:19 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/12/07/undermanned-warriors-drop-close-one-in-utah-in-wild-fashion/

SALT LAKE CITY — The Warriors overcame a double-figure deficit Wednesday
night to take a four-point lead over the Utah Jazz with 13.3 seconds left.

But a wild chain of events that unfolded over the remainder of the game
left the Warriors boarding a plane back to the Bay and wondering, “What
just happened?”

Everything that could’ve gone wrong did for the Warriors in the final
seconds of their 124-123 loss.

It started with a mental lapse on defense by Klay Thompson that led to a
wide-open 3 for Jazz guard Malik Beasley which trimmed to Warriors’ lead
to one with 7.8 seconds left. Then, out of the timeout, Ty Jerome
inbounded the ball to Jordan Poole, who was suffocated by Nickeil
Alexander-Walker and Kelly Olynyk which resulted in a turnover.

Beasley scooped up the ball and took it to the other end where he passed
to Simone Fontecchio for the go-ahead dunk to secure the win a second
before the final horn.

The Warriors — playing without Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Andrew
Wiggins, who remained in the Bay Area for the one-game road trip to
nurse injuries — were left trying to make sense of the stunning
last-minute collapse.

“We didn’t take care of the ball, we turned it over and they took the
game,” coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s a shame because our guys did a lot
of great stuff. I thought to that point they really fought and earned
the right to win the game and then we didn’t close it and you got to
close it. You got to be rock solid with the ball. You got to be smart
defensively and we were neither of those things the last 13 seconds.”

Thompson took ownership for his “dreadful mistake” that led to Beasley’s
open 3.

“I just fell asleep,” said Thompson, who finished with 22 points on 25
shots. “I watched the ball handler get to the rim rather [than] sticking
on a 3-point shooter. That was a dreadful mistake by myself.”

Poole didn’t weigh in on whether he thought he was fouled on the
Warriors’ final possession, saying, “It’s not up to me to make that
decision.” He posted 36 points, eight assists and four rebounds in his
seventh start this season.

The insane finish to the game overshadowed Jonathan Kuminga’s best game
of his young career. Kuminga was impactful on both ends of the court. He
was especially key down the stretch. His dunk with 35.9 seconds left in
regulation gave the Warriors a two-point edge. He then blocked Jordan
Clarkson’s shot about 10 seconds later and snatched the ball, much to
the dismay of Clarkson, the Jazz’s leading scorer who responded by
swatting at Kuminga from behind.

After the whistle, Kuminga shoved Clarkson away, which prompted Donte
DiVincenzo to pull the 20-year-old away. Clarkson appeared to square up
to Kuminga, who laughed in the Jazz guard’s face.

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Clarkson was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul and ejected from the game. He
finished with 22 points and nine assists. Kuminga made one of the two
freebies to put the Warriors up by three with 24 seconds left. Poole
split a pair of free throws of his own later which led to the Warriors’
four-point advantage.

All said, Kuminga finished with a season-high 24 points on an efficient
10 of 13 shooting off the bench. DiVincenzo added nine rebounds, seven
points, seven assists and three steals.

“I feel terrible for our guys because they fought and they did a lot of
great things but we have to close the door,” Kerr said.

Wednesday’s loss was one of those games, Kerr said, “Where you make
mistakes down the stretch and you leave the arena and you’re just
shaking your head. You’re thinking, ‘How did we just let that happen?’

“As a team and as a staff, it’s important that we move on. You learn
from it, you watch the team, see what you need to do better.”

The Warriors fall to 2-11 on the road and 13-13 on the season. They
return home to host the Boston Celtics in a 2022 NBA Finals rematch
Saturday at Chase Center before hitting the road for a
six-games-in-nine-days trip.