Some people thought that the Golden State Warriors and Steve Kerr chance upon a major advantage when Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was announced out a few hours before tip off but that’s not what happened.
Warriors fell to their hosts by 10 points with Ryan Rollins, the Dubs’ 44th overall pick in 2022, stepping up for the scoring load. The fourth year guard scored a career high of 32 points in 37 minutes, the most played by any Bucks players. The 23-year-old also had to defend Stephen Curry who went 4 out of 10 from the three and listed five turnovers.
Kerr knew that they had the advantage with the Greek Freak out and now, he is baffled that they weren’t able to get the win. He is especially puzzled that they failed multiple times against teams who were playing without their superstars.
“We’re like 0-12 the last couple years when the stars don’t play. I told opposing coaches about it and tell them just sit the star. Everytime,” Kerr told reporters post game.
He thinks the sudden major change in the opponents’ line up also affect them.
“As a coach you know, as a staff, soon as you hear that the star’s out you’re terrified. . . Every NBA team is loaded with talent. You saw those guys out there, firing threes. Everybody can play in this league.”
Steve Kerr: “We’re like 0-12 the last couple years when the stars don’t play. Soon as you hear that the star’s out you’re terrified” pic.twitter.com/0I91wuKq8W
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) October 31, 2025
Curry led the team with 27 points while Jimmy Butler had 23. Jonathan Kuminga had 24 points. For the Bucks, Rollins was not alone in the gritty win as all players (8 in total) who played more than 18 minutes scored in double digits.
Steve Kerr cites fatigue
It’s only six games into the 2025-26 season and the energy should be there for any team. That’s not what Kerr saw from his players in this loss.
The Warriors, who finalized their line up only a week before the opening, has a veteran core. Kerr suggested that his team suffered mental and physical fatigue and they were not able to execute their game plan well.
“It looked to me like fatigue, like mental and physical fatigue. Like our team, out there. Our spacing was bad,” he continued.
“It just didn’t feel like we had our usual pop, and I thought Milwaukee was brilliant. They made 19 threes, they made one tough one after another down the stretch, but we let them hang around for too long, and that was the problem, it’s what we talked about before the game: any team playing without their star is going to play with nothing to lose, firing shots,”
The Warriors will continue their road trip on Saturday when they visit the Indiana Pacers.
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