NEW YORK – Nothing about Sunday night at Madison Square Garden was supposed to work. The Golden State Warriors arrived in the world’s most famous arena missing eight players, dragging a four-game losing streak, and relying on a roster held together with 10-day contracts and rookie minutes. They built a 21-point lead anyway. They kept fighting until the final seconds. And they still lost, 110-107, their fifth defeat in a row .
For head coach Steve Kerr, the night was a microcosm of the entire season: beautiful effort, brutal result.
Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors
“I could not ask for anything more,” Kerr said after the game, his voice carrying equal parts pride and pain. “These guys are so fun to coach. They’re playing so hard together. I just want them to be rewarded for their efforts. We’ve lost a few of these, but we’re going to keep fighting and keep getting better” .
He paused, then added the line that will linger long after the final box score is forgotten: “I’m just blown away by these guys. Just their effort, their intensity, their connection. It’s really beautiful to watch. We’re going to get rewarded for this. We’re going to stay with it and continue to get better, and we’re going to start winning some of these and get some guys healthy” .
The Injury Report Reads Like a Novel
Before tip-off, Kerr described his squad as “about as beaten up as any team I can ever remember” . He wasn’t exaggerating.
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The list of unavailable players for Sunday’s game was staggering:
Stephen Curry: Missed his 17th straight game with right knee pain and inflammation (patellofemoral pain syndrome) .
Jimmy Butler: Out for the season after tearing his ACL in early January .
Draymond Green: Scratched with lower back soreness .
Seth Curry: Out with a mild left adductor strain, re-evaluation in one week .
Al Horford: Out with a mild calf strain, same timeline as Seth Curry .
Moses Moody: Out with a wrist injury .
Quinten Post: Played despite being questionable with a left ankle sprain suffered Friday against Minnesota .
De’Anthony Melton: Held out for rest/injury management .
That’s eight players. Eight. The Warriors used their 34th different starting lineup of the season, a number that borders on absurdity .
The Young Guns Respond
Brandin Podziemski
With the veterans in street clothes, the kids played like they belonged.
Brandin Podziemski led the way with 25 points and six assists, including a clutch pull-up three with 24 seconds remaining that would have given Golden State the lead. It rimmed out, but Kerr had no issue with the shot selection. “He looked like he was going to attack and Brunson backed up,” Kerr explained. “Take the three and go for the throat” .
Quinten Post, the second-year center who was questionable with an ankle sprain, set a career-high with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting . His performance was a testament to the Warriors’ developmental system and his own resilience.
Gui Santos added 20 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter as Golden State mounted one final comeback attempt . His energy and fearlessness on the biggest stage in basketball were impossible to ignore.
Even Will Richard, the rookie who caught Kerr’s frustration in the second quarter, bounced back. After Kerr screamed “The ball matters! The ball is everything!” following a turnover, Richard finished with five points and three steals, including a poster dunk on OG Anunoby that shook the Madison Square Garden crowd .
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Kerr later reflected on his outburst with the self-awareness that defines his coaching philosophy. “I kind of regret losing my composure,” he admitted. “It’s my job to keep the guys going, especially when we’re without so many players” .
The Brunson Problem
For all the Warriors’ grit, they couldn’t solve Jalen Brunson.
The Knicks’ All-Star guard finished with 30 points and nine assists, controlling the game’s tempo and delivering in the moments that mattered most . His ability to get to his spots, draw fouls, and make shots over extended contests was the difference between a moral victory and an actual one.
New York improved to 44-26 with the win, solidifying their hold on the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference . The Warriors, meanwhile, fell to 32-35, still ninth in the West but now just half a game ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers for the final play-in spot .
The Looming Question: Stephen Curry
As the losses pile up, a larger question looms over Chase Center: Should Stephen Curry play again this season?
The 38-year-old future Hall of Famer has missed 17 straight games with right knee pain and inflammation—patellofemoral pain syndrome that has limited him to just 39 games all year . He traveled with the team to New York, a morale boost Kerr acknowledged, but he’s unlikely to play on this six-game road trip .
The medical staff faces an impossible decision. If Curry returns and the Warriors make the playoffs, he could be playing at far less than 100%, risking further injury on a team that likely can’t make a serious title run. If he sits, the Warriors might miss the playoffs entirely, wasting another year of his prime.
Kerr, for his part, isn’t thinking about next season. He’s focused on the fight in front of him.
“We’re going to stay with it and continue to get better,” he said .
The Locker Room Vibe
After the game, the Warriors’ locker room was quiet but not defeated. Gui Santos summed up the mood perfectly.
“We gotta keep battling,” Santos said. “We gotta keep trying to win games when we don’t have other guys, because we know when they get back we’re gonna be good” .
That belief—that this is temporary, that health will return, that the real Warriors are still out there—is what keeps a team from collapsing when everything goes wrong.
What’s Next
The road trip continues Monday against the Washington Wizards, followed by games in Boston, Detroit, and Atlanta over the next nine days . The schedule doesn’t let up, and neither will the injury report.
For Kerr, the message remains the same: keep fighting, keep believing, keep playing for each other.
“These guys are so fun to coach,” he said again, as if repeating it might make the losses sting less .
It doesn’t. But it does explain why, even at 32-35, even after five straight losses, even with half the roster in street clothes, the Warriors keep showing up and competing.
That’s not nothing. In a lost season, sometimes that’s everything.