Stephen Curry, Warriors struggle again in 2nd straight embarrassing home loss

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Coach Steve Kerr criticized his Golden State Warriors for being down and lacking “a competitive spirit" in their latest embarrassing loss.

“If you don’t have that you’ve got nothing, so we’ve got to find a way to build that back up,” Kerr said after a 114-98 loss to the Miami Heat on Tuesday night.

That followed a 30-point pounding from the Sacramento Kings two nights earlier.

Draymond Green is calling for the Warriors to rediscover their soul.

Stephen Curry is making it clear he can hardly do it all himself.

At one moment in the second half on Tuesday the two-time MVP looked up at the scoreboard almost as if in disbelief about how it was going. The Warriors are missing shots and missing defensive assignments when it matters most.

“Back-to-back no-shows pretty much,” Curry said. “... Nobody's giving up hope. You've got to have a sense of urgency, though.”

There’s a lot of soul searching going on for this group at Chase Center.

Green addressed the team after Tuesday's demoralizing performance.

“We can’t be front-runners, we have to dig in, we have to find our soul, that’s what Draymond kind of said,” Trace Jackson-Davis shared. “It’s our soul that we’ve lost, we’ve lost our spirit and we have to get that back.”

Golden State shot 14 for 50 from 3-point range and went 40 of 98 overall (40.8%).

Curry wants no finger-pointing or comparisons, just a collective effort to turn the season around — acknowledging "this particular team hasn't done anything."

“At the end of the day we are a team and we are all tied together, we're all accountable for the results of each night how our season ends up," Curry said. “It's not just a me and Draymond thing, it's not just a me thing, it's a we thing. So what we all need to do is play with confidence, play with assertiveness, play with a belief that when you step on the floor you can beat anybody. Whether it happens or not that has to be the mindset.”

The Warriors missed the playoffs last year then began this season a promising 12-3 and with championship aspirations as Curry and Draymond Green try to add to the four titles they've captured together.

“When you experience winning you hate losing even more,” Curry said.

Now, Golden State is 18-18 and tied for ninth place with San Antonio in the jammed-up Western Conference. The Warriors were a 10th seed last season and were eliminated by the Kings in the play-in tournament.

Sure, forward Jonathan Kuminga is sidelined for at least a few weeks with a sprained right ankle, while guards Gary Payton II and Brandin Podziemski are expected back from injuries sometime during the upcoming four-game road trip.

Frustrated fans flocked for the exits early for a second straight game at Chase Center, where the blowout by the Kings still stung.

“I expected better energy. I think we're suffering from a crisis of confidence right now frankly,” Kerr said. “You can see it, you can feel it. I don't mind missed shots but I mind when missed shots affect the defense and the attitude. We feel deflated right now and there's no room for feeling sorry for ourselves in the NBA. In life in general. We can't let disappointment dictate our approach to a game, we have to do the opposite. We have to bring more fire, we have to outcompete our opponents when things aren't going our way.”

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Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green reacts after scoring against the Miami Heat during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, right, speaks with referee J.T. Orr during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry reacts after scoring against the Miami Heat during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) moves the ball while defended by Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic (5) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry looks to the scoreboard during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr gestures during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI informant who fabricated a story about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter accepting bribes that became central to Republicans’ impeachment effort was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison.

Alexander Smirnovpleaded guilty last month in Los Angeles federal court to tax evasion and lying to the FBI about the phony bribery scheme in what prosecutors say was an effort to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Smirnov, a dual U.S. and Israeli citizen, falsely claimed to his FBI handler that executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had paid then-Vice President Biden and his son $5 million each around 2015.

Smirnov's explosive claim in 2020 came after he expressed "bias” about Joe Biden as a presidential candidate, according to prosecutors. In reality, investigators found Smirnov had only routine business dealings with Burisma starting in 2017 — after Biden's term as vice president.

Prosecutors noted that Smirnov's false claim “set off a firestorm in Congress” when it resurfaced years later as part of the House impeachment inquiry into President Biden, a Democrat who defeated Republican then-President Donald Trump in 2020. The Biden administration dismissed the House impeachment effort as a “stunt.”

Before Smirnov’s arrest, Republicans had demanded the FBI release the unredacted form documenting the unverified allegations, though they acknowledged they couldn’t confirm if they were true.

"In committing his crimes he betrayed the United States, a country that showed him nothing but generosity, including conferring on him the greatest honor it can bestow, citizenship," Justice Department special counsel David Weiss' team wrote in court papers. "He repaid the trust the United States placed in him to be a law-abiding naturalized citizen and, more specifically, that one of its premier law enforcement agencies placed in him to tell the truth as a confidential human source, by attempting to interfere in a Presidential election."

Smirnov will get credit for the time he has served behind bars since his arrest last February in the case accusing him of lying to the FBI. Prosecutors in November brought new tax charges alleging he concealed millions of dollars of income he earned between 2020 and 2022.

Smirnov's lawyers had sought no more than four years behind bars, noting the “substantial assistance" he provided to the U.S. government as an FBI informant for more than a decade. Smirnov's lawyers noted in court papers that he suffers from serious health issues related to his eyes and argue that a lengthy sentence would “unnecessarily prolong his suffering.”

“Mr. Smirnov has learned a very grave lesson and proffers to this Honorable Court that he will not find himself on this side of the law again,” attorneys Richard Schonfeld and David Chesnoff told the judge in court papers.

Smirnov was prosecuted by Weiss, who also brought gun and tax charges against Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden was supposed to be sentenced in December after being convicted at a trial in the gun case and pleading guilty to tax charges. But he was pardoned by his father, who said he believed “raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.”

In seeking a lighter sentence, Smirnov's lawyers wrote in court papers that both Hunter Biden and President-elect Trump — who was charged in two federal cases by a different special counsel — “have walked free and clear of any meaningful punishment.”

Special counsel Jack Smith abandoned the two federal cases against Trump — accusing him of conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss and hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida — after Trump's presidential victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in November.

Follow the AP's coverage of Hunter Biden at https://apnews.com/hub/hunter-biden.

FILE - In this courtroom sketch Defendant Alexander Smirnov speaks in Federal court in Los Angeles, Feb. 26, 2024. (William T. Robles via AP, File)