After losing to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night, the Golden State Warriors needed a victory on Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies in order to make it to the NBA Playoffs. Last night's game turned out to be extremely exciting as it was close up until the very end. In fact, we even got some overtime. However, it was the Grizzlies who came out victorious, and now, they will get the Utah Jazz in the first round of the playoffs.
Immediately following the game, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr spoke about the loss and what it means for the team moving forward. The championship-winning coach was obviously disappointed about it all although he did note that the Warriors have a lot to be proud of and they can use this as a building block for next season.
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"Obviously a crushing way to go out," Kerr said via ESPN. "Two straight games that were basically gut punches. We felt like we had control of the game the other night and lost and then really didn't have the control of this one but could have won. We had the last shot in regulation. The ball just didn't go our way, but we've had a lot of great breaks over here over the years and a lot of bad ones the last couple years, with injuries especially. All in all you have to look at this season as a success and something to build on."
Without Klay Thompson, the Warriors have struggled over the last two seasons. Once he comes back to the court next season, the Warriors will be at full strength again and it will be interesting to see just how good they can be.
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