The NBA standings and stats show that the Golden State Warriors sit at No. 2 in the Western Conference and are league-leader in Offensive Rating, Net Rating and near the top in a host of other categories. As the Warriors continue to pile up wins, they’ve also had issues of late (and this season) collecting technical fouls, too.
Last night was the latest in a string of them this season for the Warriors, when star Kevin Durant and New Orleans Pelicans big man DeMarcus Cousins got ejected for a scuffle in the fourth quarter. On Sunday, Shaun Livingston was ejected after making contact with a referee (he and the official, Courtney Kirkland, received suspensions on Monday).
Earlier this week, Kevin Durant was ejected for arguing with a referee in a win against the Orlando Magic. In October, Draymond Green was ejected after scuffling with the Washington Wizards’ Bradley Beal, while Durant and Stephen Curry were tossed from a game vs. the Memphis Grizzlies for arguing with officials.
After last night’s comeback win against the Pelicans, Warriors coach Steve Kerr sounded off on the recent string of outbursts by his team, writes Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle:
“It’s absolutely too much,” Kerr said. “We’re not composed out there. We’re a championship team. We have to be poised and we have to execute out there. We’re getting way too emotional, myself included.
“I’ve got to do a better job of that, too. But we’ve got to show some poise when things aren’t going our way, stop worrying about everything else and just worry about the game.”
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Overall, the Warriors have had six ejections this season. Durant has had three in the past 18 games, one more than he had in his previous 810.
“Every time I got ejected, I make sure it’s late in the game,” Durant said. “I’m not messing up like that in the first, second quarter. I make sure it’s late in the game if I want to do something.
“But I’ve got to be more poised. I can’t let anybody take me off my game. I’ve been in the league too long. Especially somebody like Cousins. You know that he’s feisty, you know that he’s emotional, you know that he plays that way. I can’t get involved with that. That’s just who he is, I gotta be me.”
