WASHINGTON — Steve Kerr finally could celebrate win No. 600.
The Golden State coach is one of the fastest to reach the milestone, but after he made it to 599 the Warriors lost five in a row. They snapped that skid with a 125-117 win over Washington on Monday night.
“Not a great basketball game,” Kerr said. “But we needed the win and were good enough to get the win.”
Kerr reached 600 in his 943rd regular-season game. Only three coaches have needed fewer. Phil Jackson did it in 805 games, Pat Riley in 832 and Gregg Popovich in 887.
“It’s surreal to hear my name in that group, but I can tell you that one thing that bonds us all together — those names and mine — is talent,” Kerr said. “You can’t win in this league without great players, and I was blessed from the day I took this job with incredible talent.”
Kerr also had 601 career wins as a player. He became the second person in NBA history to win 600 games as a player and as a coach, joining Don Nelson.
With Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler III out with injuries, the Warriors are mired in a race for positioning in the play-in round in the Western Conference. They did have Draymond Green and Kristaps Porzingis back Monday after resting them in Sunday’s loss at New York.
Porzingis scored a game-high 30 points, tying his season high.
“He’s quite a talent,” Kerr said. “We’re also on the Kristaps Porzingis reunion tour. It’s kind of crazy. We’re playing every one of his former teams. The Knicks, Washington, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas — all five of his teams, we’re seeing on this trip. Players usually get up for playing against their old teams.”
Up next for the Warriors is a matchup with the Celtics on Wednesday night.
Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.
