Head coach Will Hardy is probably the one who is most eager for this season to end. Utah currently has a 99.4% chance of remaining in the top eight of the draft lottery when the ping-pong balls drop this summer, as they hold the fifth-worst record in the NBA (20–45). However, this does not imply that the Jazz can relax in the tank race. So, they appeared to attempt to lose in plain sight against the Warriors.

And yet, Golden State had its big share of expensive errors that are just difficult to overlook. Head coach Steve Kerr, though, seems to have already brushed that loss aside.

Steve Kerr was blunt when analysing the loss. “Yeah, it’s a quick turnaround, you know with Chicago tomorrow night and we got to bounce back. So I’m not concerned about that,” the Warriors head coach said about the Jazz result.

Now, that isn’t really an answer fans were looking for, and understandably so.

How do you lose when the opponent’s leading scorer for the game, Brice Sensabaugh, plays just 3 minutes of the final quarter, while they only have a single-digit lead? Also, breakout star Keyonte George didn’t play in the final quarter at all, even with the game tied at one point. The Jazz’s approach was far from subtle, indeed.

Hence, the speculation is understandable. But the Jazz didn’t seem to have enough control over their decisions, thanks to the Warriors’ offense.

The Warriors stayed close to the three-point line, even when it was clear that it wasn’t working. They missed 36 three-pointers, which is hard to do in any game. But taking 52 shots from deep against a Jazz team that wasn’t very good at defense made even less sense.

Strangely, again, Steve Kerr didn’t seem too upset with the offense.

“We weren’t bad offensively, 31 assists to 10 turnovers,” Kerr told reporters in Salt Lake City. “That’s a great ratio. So, we took care of the ball. We moved it. I didn’t think we got great looks, but we got enough good looks to win. It was our defense that that let us down.”

Steve Kerr says, “This is the NBA”, so the Warriors can’t drown in their sorrows. They have to face the Chicago Bulls tomorrow. But, thankfully, before that, the experienced head coach did point to at least one glaring reason for the Warriors’ loss.

The Warriors shot themselves in the foot

This wasn’t necessarily a contest between a superior team and an inferior team. The Warriors’ offense lacked lethal firepower. Curry and Porzingis both were out. However, Kerr still felt the team got enough clean looks to win this game. The Warriors also limited their turnovers to just 9 while connecting on 33 assists.

What really changed the game was their disoriented defense. In discussions with the team, Kerr wanted to take away the “easy” attempts. However, the Warriors’ excessive fouling created an irrecoverable deficit.

“I just never felt like we got control of them defensively. You know, I mean, they scored 119 on us. 29 free throws. That can’t be the case… They made 27 points from the line. So, too much fouling. Too many plays where we were at a disadvantage based on whatever was happening offensively. So they outscored us by 13 points at the free-throw line. That’s the difference in the game,” said Kerr.

The Warriors did hand over opportunities by fouling. The Jazz answered by missing just two of their 29 free throw attempts in this game. Both teams are dealing with adversity right now. However, the Warriors restrict the Jazz offense without sending them to the line. They also struggled with rebounding, playing without a high-calibre starting center.

Although Steve Kerr is looking ahead, the Warriors need to fire themselves up. With the Clippers winning tonight, they have officially dropped to the ninth seed. And Curry’s return is still a few games away. With the Play-In a likely pathway, the team needs to ensure being a 6/7 seed to get a second chance at making the postseason.