Steve Kerr blasts Warriors’ ‘awful’ transition defense

Steve Kerr knows exactly what was wrong with his Golden State Warriors in their 118-109 loss to the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday.

During his postgame press conference, Kerr ripped his team’s “awful” transition defense. He noted they allowed 24 fastbreak points and turned the ball over 17 times.

Steve Kerr: “Our transition defense was awful…We gave up 24 fastbreak points, turned it over 17 times. That’s the game.”

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 31, 2019

Many of the Warriors repeated the same comments after the game. They said that they were unfamiliar with the Raptors. Toronto’s supporting cast stepped up as Pascal Siakam had 32 points and Marc Gasol added 18. They shot 50.6 percent from the field while holding the Warriors to 43.6 percent.

This marked Golden State’s first Game 1 loss in a series since the 2016 Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Warriors came back from down 3-1 to win that series in seven, setting in motion Kevin Durant’s move to Golden State that summer.