Kerr after Game 5 loss: Warriors 'gotta defend with some urgency'

Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors failed to close out the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night, falling 129-121 in Game 5 of their first-round series.

Golden State dropped 41 points in the first quarter, but Durant feels the Warriors' inability to remain aggressive was their undoing.

"When we get a nice lead, we just tend to relax a little bit," Durant told reporters postgame, including ESPN's Nick Friedell. "I said it before. Teams are looking for something just to get them back into the game, you know what I'm saying? If we foul a 3-point shooter or turn the rock over or we shoot a few bad shots in a row, teams get going.

"They'll build some confidence. Because they're already playing loose, with nothing to lose, those shots, they don't have no pressure from the start to the finish, especially as an eight seed."

The Warriors have performed poorly on their home court at times this season, despite a 30-11 regular-season record at Oracle Arena. The lowly Phoenix Suns defeated Golden State in March, and the team endured a 35-point drubbing - the most lopsided defeat in the Steve Kerr era - against the Dallas Mavericks a few weeks later.

However, Kerr still expected a better effort from his club Wednesday, especially on defense.

"It's the NBA playoffs," Kerr said. "This is a seven-game series, and you gotta play. You gotta defend with some urgency. And we gave up 129 points on our home floor, and they shot 54 percent."

"We sort of seemed to take it for granted that we were gonna be OK," he added. "But I said it before the game: This Clipper team has been scrapping and clawing all year, and you knew they weren't gonna go down without a fight."

Golden State gets another chance to end the Clippers' season on Friday when the series shifts back to the Staples Center in Los Angeles.