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It was pretty clear just minutes into the Warriors' 112-92 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday that Golden State coach Steve Kerr wasn't happy with the way the game was being officiated.

He picked up a technical foul and had to be restrained by assistant coach Mike Brown, but that didn't stop Kerr from voicing his opinion on the sideline. After a while Kerr clearly got fed up, and TNT cameras caught him using some colorful language toward the officials.

On Saturday, before the Warriors' game against the Denver Nuggets, Kerr apologized for his behavior.

"I need to do better. Honestly, I need to do better," Kerr said. "That was embarrassing. My daughter sent me the meme -- it was all over the internet. I just hung my head in shame.

"I am very passionate and intense, but I can't use that kind of wording. I would never say that to anybody in a normal setting -- it's just awful. When I saw that I was like, 'My God, what's the matter with me?' So I gotta do better. I'm always gonna get on refs to stick up for my guys, but I can't use that kind of language."

Kerr also talked about how the technology these days with so many cameras in arenas might force him to take extra precaution.

"I talked to [Warriors radio commentator] Tom Tolbert yesterday and he said I gotta do what the NFL coaches do with the laminated play card. No, but I think there's a certain amount of yelling you have to do as a coach when you don't like what's going on. Maybe you're trying to motivate your guys. Maybe you're trying to get on the ref to change the momentum a little bit, and that's all part of it. But what I said the other night was inexcusable."

Kerr went on to blame Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, his former coach and mentor who was ejected from the same game in the fourth quarter, for teaching him that kind of language.

"Well that's where I learned it," Kerr said. "I blamed [Popovich] afterward. I'm like, 'You're the one who taught me that stuff, Pop!' I think he might have said something similar when he got tossed. But, yeah, sometimes the temper and the competitive desire gets the best of us."

Kerr may not think his language was acceptable, but it may have worked. The Warriors trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half against the Spurs before a dramatic turnaround to win by 20.