The Warriors are stressed out like never before
OKLAHOMA CITY – The signs of stress were everywhere for the Golden State Warriors and their frazzled fans the past few days.
All the growing angst, this nightmare unfolding before them after a season of history-making harmony, wasn’t limited to the Chesapeake Arena court where the Oklahoma City Thunder dismantled the most dominant regular season team in league history in Games 3 and 4 of the Western Conference Finals.
There was pressure building on Sunday night at a hotel bar not far from the Thunder’s home, where a wayward Warriors fan was so enraged that TNT analyst Charles Barkley picked the Thunder to win the series that he challenged him to an actual fight (security was called, and the man was removed).
It rose in the corner section of the arena where Joe Lacob sat on Sunday night, too, when the passionate Warriors owner grew so weary of one Thunder fan’s belligerent badgering during Game 3 that he just had to holler back at the burly fellow (Lacob’s fiancé, also in attendance, would later play the part of charming peacemaker with the Thunder fan heading into Game 4).
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The morning after Game 4 took a more somber turn at the Will Rogers World Airport, where relatives of Warriors players who had reveled in this 18-month joy ride left town with long faces amid the Thunder’s 3-1 series lead.
With Game 5 on Thursday at Oracle Arena and the Warriors facing a reality that only 3.8% of the 232 teams that have been in this position have ever survived (nine in all), the question of poise and mental state has never been more important. Yet the problem for the Warriors, the thing that anyone can see from a galaxy away, is that these two teams are on opposite ends of that spectrum.
It’s not just the fans, the owner and the family members who are cracking right now. It’s the Warriors themselves.
“We didn’t play very intelligently,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr had said after Game 4. “Way too many turnovers (21 in all, including six apiece for Steph Curry and Draymond Green), careless passes. This is probably the longest team in the league that we’re facing, and we are continuing to try to throw passes over the top of their outstretched arms. It’s probably not a great idea.”
Only the Warriors know what’s truly happening between their ears, whether the six-month push for 73 wins may have worn them out or if the hype that came from it is haunting them now, but this gritty Oklahoma City group has caused an identity crisis from which they might not recover. Their famed ‘Death Lineup’ (Curry, Green, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala and Harrison Barnes) that was leading the way in the league’s small-ball revolution all season is now six feet under with dirt spilling over.
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The Thunder, with first-year coach Billy Donovan on quite the masterful run, have answered with a “small”-ball lineup of their own that just might destroy everything the Warriors have worked for since their ascent began in 2012. When Russell Westbrook, Andre Roberson, Dion Waiter, Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka have shared the floor, the Thunder – according to NBA.com/stats – have a plus-minus rating of plus-49 that is easily the best for any lineup in this series (their second-best is a plus-five).
The only way out for the Warriors, ironic as it is, is to take the very approach that has helped the Thunder get to this point.
On the drive out of the players’ parking lot that sits next Chesapeake Arena, the ramp up to the nearest downtown street is aimed in such a way that you can’t help but read the Thunder billboard that sits across the street.
“Day by day, every day.”
That’s the Thunder way, the focused mentality that has helped them block out all the noise about Durant’s forthcoming free agency, or the death of assistant coach Monty Williams’ wife or the laundry list of other obstacles they’ve endured in the past few seasons. As the saying goes, if you can’t beat ‘em, steal their strategy. Or something like that.
Yet just as the Warriors tried so hard the past two games to obliterate double-digit deficits with home run-type plays that so badly backfired, they can’t win three games all at once. They need to start with Game 5, in the friendly confines of an Oracle Arena building where they won 39 of their 41 regular season games and where a potential Game 7 in this series would take place.
This was also the location of the quickly-forgotten Game 2 on May 18, when they routed the Thunder 118-91 and Curry’s less-than-perfect health wasn’t a topic of discussion when he was scoring 15 of his 28 points in a span of 118 third-quarter seconds. Strange as it is that the best shooter of all time has missed 16 of his 21 three-point attempts in the past two games, let’s not also forget that this is the same back-to-back MVP who tagged the Portland Trail Blazers for 40 points in his May 9 return from his right knee injury. Curry is averaging 27.7 points (45.2% shooting overall, 37.1% from three-point range), 6.2 assists and six rebounds per game since he came back from the 15-day absence caused by his Grade 1 MCL sprain.
Curry, who said on May 17 that he knew the lingering pain in his knee wouldn’t completely disappear until the offseason arrived, simply said “No, I’m fine,” when asked on Thursday night if he was still hampered by the injury. Warriors coach Steve Kerr has said consistently that there are no restrictions on Curry related to his condition, but it’s clear they’ve been monitoring this situation at every step. As said best by Curry’s brother and former Sacramento Kings guard/free-agent-to-be, Seth Curry, this is par for the playoff course.
“It’s been a roller coaster (for Steph),” Seth said on a visit on the NBA A to Z podcast. “Last year was the first time that I really saw what it took to get to the Finals and win a championship. That run they had was crazy just to witness it behind closed doors. The playoffs is another two and a half month season. Everybody’s hurt. It wasn’t really documented last year, but Steph was banged up throughout the playoffs like anybody was, and this year’s no different.
“You play so many games. The game is turned up a whole ‘nother notch, so you’re going to get banged up. It’s a matter of who can play through certain injuries, and the adjustments you make because of that.”
Win one game, though, and that pressure that has been causing them fits the past few days shifts to the other side.
“The series isn’t over,” Steph Curry declared after Game 4. “We’ve got to believe in ourselves. There’s obviously frustration, and it’s a terrible feeling once again not stepping up and being ourselves and playing our game. But I think we’re a special team that – this isn’t how we’re going to go out.”
Follow Sam Amick on Twitter @Sam_Amick