https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nba/golden-state-warriors/steve-kerr-steph-curry-chris-paul-pacers/1716273/

Warriors ‘still figuring it out' cause for concern as playoffs loom

By Michael Wagaman

• Published March 23, 2024

SAN FRANCISCO – The Warriors have been a difficult team to figure out
this season, for fans, media and even the players themselves.

The Jekyll-Hyde theme of the 2023-24 season continued Friday night when
the Indiana Pacers rolled into town and left as the only NBA team that
is unbeaten at Chase Center following their 123-111 victory.

What already was an uphill battle to improve their positioning in the
Western Conference before the playoffs begin in less than a month
quickly has become a much more difficult trek.

And everyone is wondering how to fix it.

Coach Steve Kerr said the Pacers had the upper hand physically and
out-competed the Warriors. That has to be a serious concern with so
little time left in the regular season.

Despite that, Kerr said he’s confident in his squad’s outlook the rest
of the way.

“There’s nothing I need to recalibrate,” Kerr said. “We know who our
team is, We just have to stay with it. Just got to keep plugging away.”

It was a frustrating night all around for the Warriors, who have been up
and down most of the 2023-24 season.

Even more frustrating is that Golden State seems to be still searching
for answers.

Answers to an offense that was erratic and malfunctioned frequently
against the Pacers. Answers to a defense that has been allowing far too
many open looks from the perimeter and easy drives down the lane.
Answers for a team that at times has appeared poised to make a deep
playoff run and at others has played like a team not even fit for the
play-in portion of the postseason.

Simply put, too many questions and not enough answers.

“We’re still figuring it out,” Chris Paul said. “It’s been such an
up-and-down season. We’ll have a great game where we got everything
going, defending and making shots. And then we’ll have a game like tonight.

“For us, we got to figure out how to play right. We got to compete and
we got to win. Every game now we’re fighting for a chance at the
playoffs. We’ve got a chance. That’s what you want.”

Most everyone on Golden State was quick to credit the Pacers for how
they played.

However, the Warriors repeatedly hurt themselves with self-inflicted
errors and, at times, a lack of focus to the "little things."

“We always talk about us in the margins,” Stephen Curry said. “You can
just run around and run crazy, but if you don’t actually execute and do
the details, especially defensively, you can give effort but you’re not
focused mentally. That’s disappointing in terms of the effort that we
had tonight.

“A tough one for sure. Got plenty of games left to right the ship. Just
a matter of if we can do it.”

Like his teammates, Curry has no answer to what is factoring into the
Warriors’ inconsistencies.

“I wish I knew, because then we’d be able to get ahead of it,” Curry
said. “It’s not a great position to be in, especially when every game
matters and every game counts. There needs to be a sense of urgency in
how we finish this last stretch of games. I wish I knew, though.”

Curry, like Kerr, also remains confident in the Dubs being able to
salvage the remainder of the season.

“Our challenge for this team is to understand how we play offense and
how we create shots, everybody be aggressive and ready,” Curry said.
“When it's clicking, it’s still a potent offense. We just have to [have]
a solid chemistry between everybody. When it’s not, it looks like it did
tonight.”