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OAKLAND — The Warriors lost a four-time All-Star and one of the game’s most dominant centers. But even if they have concerns about DeMarcus Cousins’ left quad injury, the Warriors have much more pressing concerns.
The Warriors suffered a 135-131 Game 2 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers of their first-round series on Monday at Oracle Arena after squandering a 31-point lead.
“We let our guard down. We weren’t the aggressors any more,” Klay Thompson said. “We didn’t deserve to win that game. Basketball gods didn’t reward us.”
No, they did not. The Warriors still had a chance to salvage this game in the final minutes instead of allowing the Clippers to tie the series at 1-1 and steal home-court advantage entering Game 3 on Thursday in Los Angeles. Instead, the Warriors unraveled in the same dramatic fashion to allow the Clippers to cement the biggest comeback in NBA playoff history.
In a game that he wilted after collecting four fouls early in the third quarter, Stephen Curry missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer with 9.3 seconds remaining. In a game that he had a plus-minus of -15, Klay Thompson also missed a go-ahead 3 with 33.2 seconds left. And in a game the Warriors had no solution for, Lou Williams made a game-tying fadeaway and a go-ahead 3.
Suddenly, the Warriors have some serious cracks in their championship armor.
“It is tough,” Curry said. “It’s going to sting a little bit, just understanding how precious every game is in the playoff series.”
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It did not appear the Warriors needed to understand that. Unlike most teams, the Warriors were initially unaffected with Cousins leaving the game with 8:09 left in the first quarter. Instead, they just relied on their four other All-Stars in Curry (29 points), Kevin Durant (21), Klay Thompson (17) and Draymond Green (14 points, nine assists). And why not? The Warriors have won two consecutive NBA titles with that group. The Warriors seemed more than capable of absorbing Cousins’ absence with Kevon Looney having a career-high 19 points on 6-of-6 shooting with five rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.
Hence, the Warriors were running the Clippers off the floor. A funny thing happened, though. The Clippers stayed on the floor. And the Warriors? As Kerr said, “we stopped playing.”
The Warriors committed 22 turnovers after vowing they would rectify the 21 turnovers they had in Game 1. The Warriors collected 31 fouls. And the Clippers’ bench in Lou Williams (36), Harrell (25) and JaMychal Green (13) proved devastating again.
Add it all up, and the Clippers outperformed the Warriors in the third quarter (44-35) and the fourth quarter (41-23) by embarrassingly large margins.
“When I say we stopped playing, we stopped playing defense, offense, executions-wise,” Kerr said. “We were not as engaged as we needed to be. We got exactly what we deserved.”
No longer did the Warriors look like the defending NBA champions.
Durant began the day apologizing publicly about getting ejected at the end of Game 1 amid playful and trash-talking exchanges with Clippers guard Patrick Beverley. While Durant kept his vow to keep his cool during amid Beverley’s swarming defense, he did not exactly follow through on clapping back with production. He committed more turnovers (nine) than shot attempts. He fouled out with 1:22 to at a time his crunch-time presence could have helped the Warriors salvage a win. Durant did not talk to reporters, leaving Kerr to speak tersely for him.
“He had a tough night,” said Kerr without elaborating.
So did Thompson, whom the Warriors pledged to help receive better looks after shooting only 5-of-14 in Game 1. Instead, Thompson finished with a -23 plus-minus rating in the second half. He also missed what he called “a wide-open look at the top of the key” as the Warriors held a 131-130 lead with 33.3 seconds left. Clippers guard Landry Shamet then made the go-ahead game-winning 3 with 16.5 seconds left.
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Usually in these instances, Curry can answer with his own 3. No problem. This time, Curry missed a 27-footer with 9.3 seconds left. Curry had just become the NBA’s all-time leading 3-point shooter following the Warriors’ Game 1 win over the Clippers. But in Game 2, Curry suddenly could not hit a shot after collecting his fourth foul with 8:41 left in the third quarter. Kerr will be the first to admit he had “a little messed-up rotation” afterwards.
During Curry’s absence, the Clippers trimmed a 25-point lead to a 17-point cushion. He then entered the lineup with Durant in the final 13.5 seconds, only to commit a turnover on the final play. He then had only seven points on 2-of-9 shooting in the fourth quarter.
“It doesn’t help, but I got to overcome that,” Curry said. “It’s not the first time I’ve been in foul trouble and had to come back. Rhythm, timing, whatever, you got to make plays.”
Green was not as forgiving. He cemented himself as the team’s most important player by excelling in his usual role as a playmaker and defender. So when Kerr yanked Green for the final 13.5 seconds left in favor of Curry, Green stared at Kerr in frustration on the bench. Green also did not speak to reporters afterwards.
Hence, the Warriors’ locker room seemed more subdued than normal.
“The mood’s [crap], and that’s actually a positive sign, in my opinion,” Warriors center Andrew Bogut said. “It wasn’t something where we were like, ‘Oh we’ll get them next time’. We’re genuinely pissed off about it. We have a lot of work to do these next couple of days to get ready for them over there.”
Where to begin? It might hard to limit the turnovers and fouls. Perhaps the Warriors finds way at least to prevent Williams from running a layup line. Maybe they just need to maintain the same effort level that created a 31-point lead.
“The locker room was down as it should be because every game matters to us,” Curry said. “We felt worse in the locker room before in terms of all the different playoff experiences we’ve had.”
After all, the Warriors famously squandered a 3-1 series lead to Cleveland in the 2016 NBA Finals. But they overcame other obstacles. They climbed back from a 2-1 series deficit in the 2015 Western Conference semifinals against Memphis. They overcame a 3-2 series deficit in last year’s Western Conference Finals against Houston.
So on paper, the Warriors are not exactly threatened with the Clippers. Unlike when the Warriors upset Dallas 12 years ago as an eighth seed, the current Warriors do not believe the Clippers can do the same thing to them. Still, the Warriors admittedly felt different after this one.
That is what happens after losing an All-Star center and conceding the biggest comeback in NBA postseason history. All of which leaves the Warriors hopeful their anger can be a good thing.
“If channeled right, it might be. I think it will, We have a lot of experience,” Thompson said. “I know we’ll bounce back. We’re too prideful not to.”
If only the Warriors had enough pride to hold onto a 31-point lead in Game 2.
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