The toll of the Warriors season on Steph Curry was plain to see when he fought back tears against the Magic on Wednesday.
Just four minutes into the game, Draymond Green was ejected for getting lippy with the referees.
Curry could be seen with red eyes after the ejection and looking awfully dispirited.
From the hurt, he produced an incredible 17 points and ten assists to spur the Warriors to a much-needed 101-93 victory against the Magic.
Kerr revealed why Green’s early ejection affected his longtime teammate Steph so deeply.
“Every game being so important and us fighting for everything, for Draymond to get kicked out three minutes in, it was really unforgivable,” Kerr said on 95.7 The Game’s Willard & Dibs. “I think Steph may have even been a little upset with himself for not pulling Draymond out of there, but I think mostly it was just, ‘Come on, man. We need this.’ Steph is such a fighter, such a competitor, he wants it so badly and I think all of that combined led to that reaction.”
After Green was ejected, Kerr could be seen patting Curry on the back and sharing some words with him.
Those words clearly helped Steph get back on the court with focus and give his all for his team.
“I could see how emotional he was and how rattled he was by it, and I just wanted to make sure he was alright,” Kerr said. “But number two remind him, we got to go. We got to go play and that’s about as simple as it gets.”
Curry came alive after that and even sank two clutch shots late in the fourth to cement the win and hit Orlando with the “night night” celebration.
The Dubs are fighting to keep their season alive, with a 39-34 record on the season.
The Western Conference is as competitive as ever and one slip could mean the Warriors lose their tenth spot to the Rockets.