Pacific Notes: Kerr, Lakers Defense, Clippers Investigation, Kings Elimination

With Jimmy Butler out for the season due to an ACL tear and Stephen Curry sidelined by a knee injury, Warriors coach Steve Kerr feels the need to send a positive message to his team, Matt Leland of NBCSportsBayArea.com relays. Kerr made his comments during an interview on the 95.7 The Game’s “Willard and Dibs” show

“I’m just trying to really fire the guys up,” Kerr said. “We were, I thought, demoralized at times [in Tuesday’s loss to Chicago]. The Bulls had a big run at the end of the second quarter and I could just feel the air leaving our balloon. Without Steph, without Jimmy I think I have to take on more responsibility, just keeping the guys’ spirits up, that sort of thing. So, that’s probably what you were looking at.”

Golden State has lost three straight and five of its last six games.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

• The Lakers have shown progress on the defensive end in their last two outings, holding the Knicks to 97 points and the Timberwolves to 106 points. Is their defensive improvement sustainable? Even head coach JJ Redick isn’t sure about that. “We’re not gonna be the No. 1 defense in the league,” he said, per Law Murray of The Athletic. “But to be above average, have those two performances against those two teams back-to-back, is really encouraging.” Redick said the team especially needs to improve its rim protection. “Just the consistency of our low man you know,” Redick said. “We’re one of the worst teams at defending the rim. That’s not on our bigs, that’s on everybody. So we’ve had stretches, I thought, if you look at our good defensive games, our low man’s really active, our low man is giving paint consequences.”
• The NBA’s investigation into allegations that the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard used a no-show endorsement deal with fintech company Aspiration to circumvent the salary cap has dragged on since September. Podcaster Pablo Torre, who originally broke the story during the offseason, continues to find more evidence of wrongdoing. He uncovered that a 2023 whistleblower complaint was made to the Security and Exchange Commission, accusing Aspiration of fraudulently misusing funds to assist the Clippers’ efforts to circumvent salary cap restrictions to pay star Leonard “an incentivized bonus,” Mike Vornukov of The Athletic relays.
• The Kings became the first Western Conference to be officially eliminated from playoff contention. Their loss to the Hornets on Wednesday made that a reality, Spotrac contributor Keith Smith notes (Twitter link). Indiana was the first team to get mathematically eliminated this week.