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OAKLAND – If only the Warriors played the Houston Rockets instead of the Los Angeles Clippers. Then, the Warriors may have tried harder.
Instead, the Warriors labored through a 129-121 Game 5 loss to the Clippers on Wednesday at Oracle Arena and reduced their first-round series lead to 3-2. Instead of fully resting and preparing for a Western Conference semifinals matchup against Houston, the Warriors will play in Game 6 in L.A. in hopes to close out this series. Was thinking about Houston part of the Warriors’ problem?
“Yup. It started with me. I was,” Klay Thompson said. “I thought we were going to come out and win tonight, but sometimes life doesn’t go as planned.”
Either Thompson is the lone Warriors player to feel this way. Or the Warriors are just lying.
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Draymond Green strongly dismissed whether that factored into the Clippers reducing the Warriors’ first-round series lead to 3-2. Other than stressing that “I’m not thinking about the future,” Kevin Durant expressed uncertainty elsewhere because “I haven’t talked to my teammates about the Rockets.” And Stephen Curry simply credited the Clippers for continuously proving themselves this season as a legitimate playoff team after plenty in NBA circles anticipated them to compete for ping-pong balls in the draft lottery instead.
Those differing viewpoints aside, the Warriors’ latest unraveling captured their 2018-19 season too well. After winning three NBA championships in the past four years, the Warriors are still too talented and experienced to feel concerned on whether the Clippers will upset them.
“What’s the identity of our club? Back-to-back champions,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “We’re really good. We’re hanging banners. What’s our identity? We play fast. We play defense. I don’t know. Maybe we should do an instructional video later and we’ll send it to you.”
And yet the Warriors would not want to make an instructional video out of their latest performance. Just like the regular season, the Warriors struggled finding sources of motivation to close out the series.
“I spent a year where things haven’t gone exactly smoothly all the time. So I’m not surprised by anything,” Kerr said. “But I expected to come out and play better and to win the game, but it’s the NBA playoffs.”
Because it is the NBA playoffs, the Warriors had more sources of motivation than what they experienced in forgettable regular-season games.
They could close out a playoff series early. They could rest and prepare for the Houston Rockets for the next three days. They could prevent themselves from squandering a 3-1 series lead just as they did three years ago in the NBA Finals.
Just like the regular-season, though, the Warriors still struggled to show the best version of themselves.
“When we get a nice lead,” Durant said, “we just tend to relax a little bit.”
Unlike their Game 2 loss, the Warriors did not squander a 31-point lead. Instead, the Warriors lacked the same habits that cemented consecutive road wins in Los Angeles.
The Warriors allowed a familiar opponent to emerge once again in Lou Williams (33 points on 12-of-19 shooting) after holding him in Game 3 (4-of-11) and Game 4 (2-of-10). The Warriors suddenly allowed Danilo Gallinari to rediscover his shooting stroke (24) after going 28.6 percent in the first five games. Montrezl Harrell taunted the Warriors with 24 points and countless drives to the rim. Patrick Beverley went from pest to scorer (17 points).
The Warriors still had prolific nights in Durant (45 points), Curry (24) and Thompson (22). That went to waste, though, with the Warriors going 5-of-27 from 3 in the second half. Meanwhile, the Warriors conceded 54 points in the paint and 14 second-chance points.
“We understand it’s a closeout game and they’re always difficult, no matter who you’re playing,” Curry said. “They threw the first punch in the first quarter. Everybody seemed like they had nothing to lose and they were just firing up from all over the place.”
And the Warriors? They lacked enough defensive intensity to do anything about. With Clippers coach Doc Rivers likening his players to “cockroaches,” the Warriors allowed them to infest their home.
“We could’ve played with better defensive intensity to start the game,” Green said. “That falls on me. I didn’t have enough intensity from the start. That’s my fault. I have to be better.”
If only it were that simple.
Though Curry’s numbers might suggest he was fine, Kerr admitted that “he had a rough night” that included poor defense on Beverley and even committing a backcourt violation. Durant (1-of-6) and Thompson (1-of-7) shot poorly from 3 in the second half. And after Kerr sat Durant for the final 1:41 of the third quarter for a breather, the Clippers’ increased their lead from four to 10 points.
Still, the Warriors appeared ready to become themselves again. Before Curry completed a 3-point play that cut the Clippers’ lead to 114-111 with 5:55, Durant motioned for the crowd to cheer louder. Moments later, Thompson drilled a 3. Durant finished with a dunk for a 118-117 lead with 2:40 left.
After that? Williams scored eight of his 33 points. The Warriors committed two turnovers. And they missed six of their last seven shots.
“Definitely surprised. It’s not what we’re used to,” Curry said. “But there’s no panic at all. We have to realize that this year’s different; there’s different challenges. Whether it’s human nature, whether it’s talent or the competition we’re playing, the way the league’s changed with different lineups out there, like everything’s different and you have to adapt.”
Hence, the Warriors will make another trip they hoped to avoid. Usually most would love to return to L.A. to enjoy the sunny skies, the intoxicating nightlife or the pleasant beaches. Not this time, though.
The Warriors had hoped to let Green heal his injured right wrist. They wanted to rest Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala. They wanted to prepare against a Rockets team that features James Harden, Chris Paul and Clint Capela. They wanted to match a Rockets team that may become less likely to become fatigued or injured as they did in last year’s Western Conference Finals that the Warriors won in seven games.
“This game sucked,” Thompson said. “Let’s freakin’ win by 30, like we’re capable of.”
If they do, then the Warriors can finally think about Houston.
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