‘Deflated’ Warriors search again after loss to Heat

SAN FRANCISCO — Coach Steve Kerr said the Golden State Warriors are suffering a “crisis of confidence” after a second straight home loss.

After a listless 114-98 loss to the Miami Heat on Tuesday night at Chase Center, the Warriors’ 15th loss in 21 games, a frustrated Stephen Curry called the emotion “just pissed.”

“You’re trying to figure it out,” said an exasperated Curry, who had 31 points and seven assists. “Everyone in the locker room is searching a little, trying to understand what’s going wrong, why we can’t start better. In the moments of the game when you’re coming back, you can’t make consecutive stops. Bad offensive possessions that affect our confidence and body language and vibe.

“There are a lot of things wrong, but what are you going to do about it? We have to dig deep, figure it out, believe that we are a good team. We have to stop talking about it and just fight through it. “

Golden State (18-18) has been desperately trying to figure out how to get back on track. Since opening the season 12-3, the Warriors look like a completely different team. Curry has tried to meet with his teammates to emphasize that they are at a critical point in the season when they can go one way or another. He has also tried to celebrate his 3-point baskets more in an attempt to inject more joy and fun into the team.

The Warriors, however, have had stretches where they can’t score, can’t shoot and can’t defend. But perhaps most troubling for Kerr was the lack of fightback against Miami.

“I was expecting more energy,” Kerr said. “I think we’re suffering from a crisis of confidence right now, frankly. You can see it. You can feel it. I don’t care about missed shots, but I care when missed shots affect defense and attitude.

“We feel deflated right now. And there’s no room to feel sorry for ourselves in the NBA, in life in general. We can’t let disappointment dictate our approach to the game. We have to do the opposite. We have to bring more fire. We have to overcome our opponents when things don’t go our way. And that was the most disappointing thing tonight, I felt like everyone was down and we didn’t have a competitive spirit.

This came after the Warriors were defeated by Sacramento 129-99 at home on Sunday despite the Kings being without De’Aaron Fox.

Golden State looked to bounce back Tuesday knowing Miami was dealing with Jimmy Butler’s suspension and a three-game losing streak following a 123-118 double-overtime loss in Sacramento the night before.

When Curry exited the game with 3:05 left and the Warriors down 112-94, the franchise star wandered the team’s sideline during the timeout looking for answers.

In each of their last four losses, the Warriors have failed to reach 100 points.

Curry was asked how the Warriors can improve offensively after shooting just 40.8% overall, including 14 of 50 from behind the arc, against the Heat (18-17).

“Honestly, I have no idea,” said Curry, who called the last two home losses “back-to-back absences.”

“I wish… we would try to figure it out, but I don’t have an answer right now.”

Golden State now goes on the road to play the Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors and Minnesota Timberwolves as it looks to find an answer to a crisis it has been mired in since just before Thanksgiving.

“When the shots fall, everything’s good, everything’s great,” said Warriors center Trayce Jackson-Davis, who scored 19 points during Tuesday’s outing. “We can’t be pioneers; we have to go deeper, we have to find our soul. That’s what Draymond [Green] something like said. It was our soul that we lost. We have lost our spirit and we have to get it back and we have to play tough basketball.

“We have to play with confidence, hit shots and play hard on the defensive end of the floor, and I think if we do that, we will find our way back.”