The Golden State Warriors completely failed to execute their plan late in the game against the shorthanded Indiana Pacers. The final scoreline was 114-109, a game that the Bay let slip away. For a team trying to prove that its experience can beat youth, this felt like yet another step in the wrong direction after a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks without Giannis Antetokounmpo in their previous game. In the post-game presser, Steve Kerr didn’t hold back.

The Warriors head coach sat in front of the media, face drawn and voice clipped. However, he didn’t need to raise his tone for the message to be clear. “Everything went wrong,” Steve Kerr said, bluntly. “We didn’t execute on offense. We didn’t execute on defense. We fouled. We turned it over. We didn’t deserve it. They played great.” There was no silver lining, just honesty from a coach who looked tired of making the same point over and over again.

But what came next caught more attention. Upon being asked if he had a message for the team after the collapse, Steve Kerr stated flatly, “There was no message. Now’s not the time to say anything to the team. We got to pack up and fly home and regroup.” This refusal to say anything was telling, especially from one of the NBA’s most vocal coaches. But as the popular saying goes, sometimes, silence says more than…

The mood of Golden State‘s players seemed to match their head coach’s tone, a notable shift from what has always been an upbeat bunch. Bench player Gui Santos, who provided a good spark during the spot minutes he played, told reporters, “Right now, everybody is p—– off. We just lost the game that we had. So nobody was saying too much.” This was exhaustion, the kind that sets in when old problems remain unresolved.

Even Stephen Curry, the usual savior for the Warriors, couldn’t maintain rhythm. Quenton Jackson, who was tasked with marking him, made the vet’s life miserable. He had an inefficient night, scoring 24 points but connecting on only 8 of his 23 shots, including shooting just 25% from beyond the arc on 16 attempts. He also recorded a game-high five turnovers and was a shadow of his usually poised, difficult-shot-making self. And when Curry isn’t himself, the Bay’s patented system falls apart, and it showed against the Pacers.

What had briefly turned into a double-digit fourth-quarter lead quickly seeped into a demoralizing loss against a team missing multiple starters and key bench players. In the end, Jonathan Kuminga returned with a -20 plus-minus rating, weirdly one behind the Splash Bro. During Kuminga’s 32 minutes on the floor, the Bay Area side was outscored by 20 points. It just didn’t work out. Kerr’s decision to stay quiet was the most unambiguous indication of where the team stands: stuck between reflection and frustration.

Steve Kerr’s Earlier Warning Rings True After Another Warriors Collapse

In hindsight, Steve Kerr must have seen this coming. Why?

After the Warriors’ previous matchup against the Bucks, he had clearly pointed to the team’s fatigue as a cause for the loss. “It looked to me like mental, physical fatigue,” Kerr said that night, noting how Golden State’s spacing and movement “just didn’t feel” like his team out there.

It was an awareness that came as a result of experience. They were busy grinding through early-season road trips and looked drained and slow against a youthful Bucks team, even though they were missing superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Kerr also predicted the same pattern that reappeared against Indiana: a lack of urgency and execution late in a game against an undermanned opponent. “Anytime a team plays without its star, you know, they’re out there with nothing to lose,” he said after the 120-110 loss to the Bucks.

The Pacers were a young, hungry group who hit shots and fed off the momentum that Golden State’s veterans gave up. That night in Milwaukee, Kerr was clear that the team “let them hang around for too long.” Now, he needs to prepare his team and ensure they get enough rest to reestablish their identity and energy before their matchup against the Phoenix Suns.