The semifinal game was one of the best comebacks and best overall games of basketball I’ve ever seen. In one corner you had Serbia, brimming with confidence behind Nikola Jokic and shooting the lights out. In the other corner you had the US, really tested for the first time in the games that counted. And it took one of the all-time great performances by a player in a USA jersey to even keep the Americans within reach to mount a furious comeback. Stephen Curry’s first half detonation merely kept the game within reach; his second half flurry, backstopped by superlative efforts from LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Joel Embiid, put the game away and took Team USA to the finals. The raucous celebration after the game, as well as the moments shared by KD, Steph, and LeBron, were the international high-water-mark for this illustrious trio…at least at the time.

Today, the US took on the French national team for gold, and the game somehow exceeded expectations. France was phenomenal all game, with Victor Wembanyama and Guerschon Yabusele starring as dominant forces. Evan Fournier hit some timely buckets, Bilal Coulibaly was pesky defensively, and Rudy Gobert unleashed his usual antics. And the US was sloppy, with 17 turnovers (5 each for LeBron and Steph) contributing directly towards France’s furious fourth quarter comeback. With under 4 minutes to go, the US was completely out of sorts on offense, with a whole lot of aimless dribbling and ball-watching. Then, Steph happened. With 2:48 left in the contest and the US clinging to a 3 point lead, Steph received a pass from LeBron at the top of the arc, jabbed left on Yabusele, came back to his right and launched a triple. It rattled in, putting the US up 6, and Steph’s immediate reaction was to quieten the crowd, as if to say, RELAX, I got it. The next time down the floor, LeBron set a screen for Steph to try to force a switch. Yabusele sagged off and Nic Batum managed to stay with Steph, but a sidestep and pump fake saw Batum fly by and gave Steph an opening to fire off another triple over a De Colo closeout. Splash again, Team USA up 9. Then, after Devin Booker got free in the paint, he kicked out to a wide-open Steph at the top of the arc. De Colo flew by on the pump fake, Steph reset his feet and knocked in his third triple in 90 seconds. Steph’s last make was the one that had me running around my house like I’d seen God. With the shot clock winding down, Kevin Durant found Steph sneaking out from behind Batum and Yabusele and hit him with a pass. Steph tried to penetrate but immediately got walled off by both Batum and Evan Fournier. With no angle to try a pass and his shot locked into “cheat code” mode, Steph instead stepped back to his right and chucked up a parabolic rainbow three off one foot sailing to his right, with Fournier and Batum both getting good contests on the shot. Nothing mattered - the shot sailed through, Durant could only shake his head in disbelief, and Steph and LeBron kicked off a “Night Night” celebration to be remembered. I tweeted this after the game, but it bears repeating - there will never ever ever ever ever be another Steph, and we are truly lucky to watch him play. For him to have these performances in these games, in what is most likely his first and last Olympic competition…this was special stuff.

Throughout the 2010s to 2020s era of the NBA, the three players that have garnered the most headlines and trophies are LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant. To see all three on the court together was a semi-religious experience, and one that is to be cherished and remembered. LeBron and Steph, in particular, have gone from established star / up-and-comer to bitter rivals to respectful frenemies, each trying to defeat the other but relishing the few opportunities available to play together. As this trio exits from international play, the question for the US becomes, who takes their places? These Olympics were no cakewalk, and the likes of Germany, Serbia, and France are only going to keep getting better.

The other irony is that each of these three players is going back to their NBA teams to fight for play-in spots. No matter how you slice it, neither the Los Angeles Lakers nor the Golden State Warriors nor the Phoenix Suns got appreciably better this offseason, which is a damn shame given the fact that LeBron, Steph, and KD remain three of the best players in the world. Chris and others on this blog have posed the question of “What’s owed Steph” many times before. The answer today is the same as it was yesterday, the same that it will be tomorrow, just perhaps more obvious to those who don’t get to root for Steph on the daily: everything. The trophy case is now complete, the last accolade achieved, the last milestone reached. But those who reach Steph’s rarified air hunger for more - more wins, more banners, more rings. The Warriors owe it to Steph to try to make that a reality.

The post Golden + What’s Owed Steph (Again) appeared first on Fast Break.

In the final years of my adolescence, I was lucky enough to watch the Giants win two World Series. Those championships taught me that such seasons have a magical quality— a je ne sais quois that cannot be described and only experienced. 

On January 23, 2015, I was stoned in my college dorm room doing homework and passively watching the Warriors play against the Sacramento Kings. I have no memory of the first half of that game. What I do remember is that after Klay scored several buckets in a row during the third quarter, I closed the tab in Google Chrome where I was doing homework. You know what happened next. Klay Thompson scored 37 points in that infamous third quarter and didn’t miss a single shot. 

When Klay crossed the 20-point-in-a-quarter threshold, I was in awe. As he got closer to 30 points, I laughed nervously, and when he passed 30, I cackled at the absurdity of it all. This, I thought to myself, is something that can only happen during a championship season. I remembered this feeling — it was the same one I felt on the June night in 2012 when Matt Cain pitched a perfect game against the Houston Astros. Later that fall, the Giants won their second championship in three years. A few months later in 2015, the Warriors won their first championship since 1975.

Klay Thompson’s ability to go 99th Percentile Nuclear is probably unmatched in NBA history. I am not rational on this subject. I watched Klay score 60 points on 13 dribbles. I watched him put an emotional kibosh on the Oklahoma City Thunder’s championship aspirations in Game 6 of the 2016 Finals. 

During the summer of my senior year of college, Kevin Durant joined the Warriors. Durant’s time with the Warriors ushered in an era of preordained victories. But I watched anyway because this was my birthright as a Warriors fan who cried when Antawn Jamison was traded; I watched anyway because Steph Curry and Draymond Green changed the game and put an end to traditional power forwards; I watched anyway because I never knew what absurdities Klay Thompson might conjure on any given night.

When the Warriors made the playoffs for the first time in my existence, they upset the Denver Nuggets in the first round, and were rewarded with a matchup against their historical bugaboo, the San Antonio Spurs. After the Warriors and Steph Curry stunned the Spurs at home in the first game of that series, only to blow it in overtime, I went full Doomer Mode. Of course, the Warriors would blow a significant lead in San Antonio — the Warriors hadn’t beaten the Spurs in San Antonio since 1997! But in the second game of that series, Klay Thompson scored 32 points on 8/9 shooting from deep and the Warriors beat the Spurs at home for the first time in 16 years. Klay Thompson — unburdened by what had been — shook off nearly two decades of Warriors’ ineptitude against the Greg Popovich and Tim Duncan Spurs. These were not the Warriors of my youth.

The final years of Klay Thompson’s tenure with the Warriors were complicated. In retrospect, I think Klay Thompson going 99th Percentile Nuclear in Game 6 of the 2019 Finals hurt all parties involved in the Klay breakup. In the final moments of his youthful prime, Klay Thompson was the best player on a court that included a 30-year-old Steph Curry and 27-year-old Kawhi Leonard. I’ve wondered how Klay might view himself today and how fans would have remembered him post-injury if he’d shot, say, a mere 7/16 that night before he tore his ACL.

Klay Thompson was, for the rest of his Warriors’ tenure, clearly burdened by his inability to conjure the absurd; to drive to the hoop with the same frequency and aggressiveness of his pre-injury self; to defend small, waterbug guards on the perimeter; to impact the game when his shots weren’t falling; to transform into Game 6 Klay on Game 6’s.

A few days before I wrote this piece, I came across a video of the 2016-17 Warriors on a game-ending run in about two-and-a-half minutes against the Cleveland Cavaliers. That was and will always be, the best basketball team I ever rooted for and we have Klay Thompson, among others, to thank for that.

If these Warriors win a championship without Klay Thompson, it will be surprising and it will be bittersweet. Right now, I’m not ready to think about next season. I’m not ready to think about Klay facing off against the Warriors in a Mavericks jersey. At least he won’t be in a Lakers jersey. Some day, I’ll have the words to fully process Klay’s departure. Today, I only have memories, and those memories mark the best years of my basketball fandom — years in which I saw Klay Thompson regularly conjure the absurd as my beleaguered Warriors won championships that I never believed possible. For that, I’ll be forever grateful to Klay. 

The post The Fast Break Warriors Say Goodbye to Klay Thompson, Pt. 1 appeared first on Fast Break.

Wow. Much has happened since my post 3 days ago.

Klay Thompson: As we suspected earlier this week, Klay Thompson has moved on. Klay has left the building and he's cleared the harbor:  Steph's Splash Brother has charted a new course--navigating toward the Lone Star State. The long-time Warrior guard and catch-and-shoot sensation signed a 3-year $50M contract to join Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks. Klay will be missed at the same time that many fans felt that it's a good time for him to move on (me included). The two thoughts are not at odds with each other and despite some reported hard feelings, I really hope it can be a win-win result for both Thompson and for the Warriors,, moving forward.

There are so many memories of Klay: various 6th games in the playoffs, the 37 point quarter, the 60-pt game, the record for most 3-pt shots in a game, coming back to shoot free throws after being injured in the finals. With the Warriors, Klay became a four-time NBA champion, a five-time NBA All-Star and has won gold medals playing with both the U.S. Olympic team and the U.S. World Cup squad. He will be sorely missed not only for his basketball accomplishments, but for his lovable goofy vibe.

Was trying to figure out which media or highlights to post about Klay. I think I will choose to remember Klay for where where he was probably most at home besides the basketball court -- in the water.

Free Agency:

As I mentioned last time, it was not out of the realm of possibility that the Warriors would work out a sign-and-trade for Klay. And they did. Doing so enabled the Warriors to pick up two late 2nd-round draft picks and not taking a player back allowed them to remove Klay's salary from the cap and gave them a trade exception (more on that below).

Klay is not the only Warrior heading for Texas. After the Warriors were unable to secure a trade for Paul George, the Warriors released Chris Paul, who signed with San Antonio. Paul and the Warriors had extended the guarantee date for his $30M salary due this year in the hopes that the former Clipper could once again play with them in Los Angeles. But the trade never happened--and I'm actually fine with that. Now Paul heads to the Spurs where I think he'll be a great vet for the young, but improving squad.

Not content to sit on their laurels of signing three players on draft day or wallow in the defeat of not signing George, the Warriors -- who seem to have plan B's, C's and D's for everything -- attacked the Free Agent market with gusto. On Monday, they agreed to sign De'Anthony Melton to a one-year, $12.8 million deal using the Mid-Level Exception -- a tool not seen in these parts for a few years now and one of the benefits of cutting salary. The Warriors are hoping for an Otto-Porter type signing with Melton whose previously injured back will be put into the exceptionally competent hands of Rick Celbrini and the Warriors training staff.

On Tuesday, the Warriors agreed to sign Kyle Anderson to a three-year, $27 million contract with the third year being a team option. The Warriors were not interested in any of the players they could take back from Dallas in the KT sign-and-trad, so instead they created a trade exception and used a little over half of it to sign Anderson. The Warriors acquired the free agent via a sign-and-trade, sending second-round pick and cash to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

After losing Klay and failing to sign Paul, the Warriors are reported to be highly interested in Utah power forward/big man Laurie Markanen. Utah is reportedly asking for numerous young players, multiple first round picks and pick swaps. The Warriors are reportedly responding by looking for a third team to make the trade more favorable to them. So far, they have been adamant about not trading Jonathan Kuminga to anyone. Will the Jazz be able to pry him away?

The Warriors still have more exceptions to use (see below), but the desire to stay out of the tax may stop them from exercising all of them. In my opinion, they will likely move salary in any trade for Markanen or anyone else.

Post Kyle Anderson sign-and-trade to Golden St. pic.twitter.com/pEV2U9zfP6

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 2, 2024

Finally, the Warriors have reportedly filled the vacancies in their coaching staff:

The Golden State Warriors are planning to hire Terry Stotts as lead assistant coach and Jerry Stackhouse as an assistant, sources tell ESPN. Both come to Steve Kerr’s staff with significant head coaching experience. pic.twitter.com/fQf1mR0A7y

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2024

This off-season is proving much more entertaining than the way the Warriors season ended.

Stay tuned -- as the Warriors don't seem to be done yet!

The post Ahoy & Farewell to Klay as Warriors Aggressively Attack Free Agency appeared first on Fast Break.

The Margins: The Warriors surprised us in the draft by generating more activity than we rightly expected from a team with one late second round pick. As everyone knows by now, the Warriors traded their 52nd pick for to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday for Lindy Waters III, a soon to be 27-year-old 6'6" shooting guard and small forward who has spent nearly his entire high school, college and professional career playing in Oklahoma. The Warriors then bought back their 52nd pick from Portland and used it on drafting Boston College center Quinten Post. Finally, the Warriors inked guard Reece Beekman, who was known for his defense as a 6'3" guard at UVA, to a 2-way contract. In the process, the Warriors became hard capped at the second apron of $189.5 million. They also declined to make a qualifying offer to Lester Quinones, making him an unrestricted free agent.

The Bigger Plays:  The Warriors hopes of trading for Paul George were all but dashed today when George declined his option with the Clippers, making him a free agent thus removing the likeliest way for him to become a Warrior.

In the biggest news of the day, Shams Charnia and Anthony Slater report in The Athletic that the Warriors are expecting to lose Klay Thompson to free agency. Thompson and the Warriors have reportedly reached an impasse and have not communicated much if at all in the last several days.  If so, it's the partial end of an era as the splash brothers will be playing on separate teams for the first time in their professional careers.

What's next?: Unknown still is what will happen with Chris Paul. Do the Warriors have any other big plays in mind now the that the possibility of acquiring Paul George is gone? The Warriors can still execute a sign-and-trade deal with Klay if both he and his new team agree to it. It's not out of the realm of possibility as sometimes these deals help the acquiring team as well. If they're not able to land another big target, then they will likely be left to acquiring middle-level vets and internal development. Stay tuned!

The post Klay Gone? Post-Draft & Free Agency Open Thread appeared first on Fast Break.

It has not gone unnoticed by this writer that the current starting centers for each Finals team were actually teammates on the woeful Washington Wizards just a season ago. In fact, if you look up and down both teams’ rosters, you’ll see a number of fresh faces. For Boston, Jrue Holiday came over from Portland after the Damian Lillard trade. Porzingis was acquired from Washington. Derrick White was with the Spurs before making a major leap with the Celtics. Add these players to the home-grown duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and you have an exceptionally talented team that has a somewhat alarming habit of playing down to its’ competition (and was very lucky to sweep the Indiana Pacers). The Mavs roster is even more confusing - they made the conference finals a few years ago with a home-grown duo of Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson, and attempted the Doncic / Porzingis pairing before seeing it fall apart. Neither duo was maintained, and instead the Mavs chose to import Kyrie Irving at his absolute nadir. While their roster showed promise, it really took off after a series of aggressive moves at the trade deadline this year, which saw the team add Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington. They also hit on a number of key supplementary draft picks (especially Dereck Lively, Josh Green, and Jaden Hardy) and stocked up on veterans like Dante Exum and Derrick Jones who know their role and can excel in them.

On paper, the formula is actually somewhat straightforward: a minimum of two S-tier bucket getters, at least one rim-running big and one rim-protecting big, and a cadre of switchable 3-and-D players. Both teams follow at least this basic template - the Celtics have the Jays, the Mavs have Luka and Kyrie. The Celtics have Porzingis and Kornet, the Mavs have Gafford and Lively. The Celtics have White and Holiday, the Mavs have Washington and Jones. Add in a random microwave scorer (Tim Hardaway Junior) and a stretch 4 (Al Horford), and you’re cooking with gas. Actually putting a roster like this together, though, is exceedingly difficult, and I would posit that the biggest difficulty is in finding that second S-tier bucket getter. The Warriors have been searching for this piece since the Kevin Durant (and I guess Jordan Poole) eras have ended. Having players who can create their own shots in the crucible of the postseason is a game changer - because at some level, when scheme eliminates all other options, you gotta find a way to get a bucket.

As far as the NBA Finals go, I’m looking forward to a great series. I think the Celtics are a much more complete team, but the Mavs have impressed me with their togetherness and execution through this postseason run. I still wish Luka would whine 20% less, and that Jason Kidd didn’t punt the first game of every series…but I’m going with the Mavs in 7.

The post Any Given Postseason (NBA Finals Preview) appeared first on Fast Break.

Let’s go down the list of teams, because each situation is unique:

Miami Heat

Can they attract another super-duper star to join Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo? No team consistently does more with less than the Heat, who are about the only team from whom I’ll tolerate self-indulgent commentary on “culture.” But though they have consistently found useful pieces in the draft (Jaime Jaquez) or the scrap heap (Gabe Vincent of yesteryears comes to mind), they’ve been unable to stay healthy (Butler and Tyler Herro in particular) and have been on the bottom half of the Eastern Conference for a couple of years now.

Milwaukee Bucks

They fired Adrian Griffin midseason and brought in Doc Rivers, who led the team to a losing record and a first round exit. They made a splashy move for Damian Lillard, only to see the defensive menace they parted with to make the move end right back up in their own conference. Neither Dame nor Giannis were fully healthy when the postseason rolled around. How long will Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton stay at their current levels of play? How do they, a mid-market team, make meaningful upgrades given their cap situation?

LA Clippers

Without Kawhi Leonard (missed the entire first round series with injury), this team collapsed again in the postseason. Paul George and James Harden are elite second options, but ask them to try to be first options and their shooting numbers tend to turn into tour dates. Luka Doncic and the Mavs have this team’s number, and look to be here to stay. With the Intuit Dome opening next year, the Clips kind of have to keep their “Big 3” together…but if they never even make it to the conference finals, is all that expenditure worth it? Steve Ballmer has been pouring $ into this team, and over the last 5 postseason runs they’ve been eliminated in the first round 3 times, in the second round once, and in the conference finals once.

Phoenix Suns

But at least the Clippers aren’t the Suns, right? They owe Bradley Beal over $150M over the next 3 seasons, Kevin Durant over $100M over the next 2 seasons, and Devin Booker $200M over the next 4 years. And oh yeah, Beal has a no-trade clause. They’ve not made it back to the conference finals since they they lost the NBA Finals in 2021, and in fact they’re exiting the postseason earlier and earlier. Their role players are ineffective, Jusuf Nurkic is getting roasted for his postseason winning percentage (worst in NBA history), and all of their acquisitions are looking like busts or overpays. And oh yeah, Matt Ishbia just paid $4 billion to acquire the franchise.

LA Lakers

Despite both of their stars being more available than they have been in recent memory, the Lakers got gentlemen-swept in the first round. They scapegoated Darvin Ham, who was not a particularly great coach, but ultimately the flaws here, like most of the teams above, is in roster construction. The Lakers have two superstars in LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and one rising young talent in Austin Reeves. Past that…you have a lot of players whose name-brand reputation outpaces their on-court production. D’Angelo Russell is the ultimate feast-or-famine player, whose inconsistencies and heaters make him far more valuable in the regular season as compared to the crucible of the playoffs. Spencer Dinwiddie is a shell of his former self. Gabe Vincent struggled away from the friendly confines of Erik Spoelstra’s system. Cam Reddish was a non-factor through the stretch run and playoffs. I could keep going (Taurean Prince, Christian Wood) but you get the idea.

Golden State Warriors

And that brings us to the Warriors, because they’re in an equally tough position as the rest of these teams. Stephen Curry is still a player you can win a championship with, but he’s not going to be able to carry you for 72 regular season games and 16 postseason ones. Klay Thompson has had brutal end-of-season games for two years in a row, but he’s a symptom of deeper roster flaws, not the cause of them. Draymond Green’s availability (due to injury or suspension) is a consistent question. Jonathan Kuminga took a significant step forward this year, but Moses Moody didn’t play enough to know for sure. Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis were incredible, but they’re so young and unproven it is hard to know whether they are going to be able to keep up their incredible upwards trajectory. Andrew Wiggins was one of the worst rotation players in the league this year, and while Chris Paul stabilized the second unit, his large expiring contract makes the penalty of keeping him on the squad too unpalatable. The Dubs, like all of the teams in this list, are going to have to make some significant changes to vault back into contention. And that will require significant roster overhauls. If there is a silver lining, it is that a lot of teams are in similar positions…if they’re honest with themselves, maybe that can facilitate some deal-making.

The post Changing of the Guard appeared first on Fast Break.

If it’s true that they’re going to keep 2 or 3 of the OGs then:

• What does that mean for the cap and getting under the apron?
• What does that mean for improving the team?
• Who would have to be/can be moved or traded?
• How do they get some height, a scorer to help Steph and possibly another backup point guard?

There's a contradiction in the path forward. Many of the new up-and-coming and current powerhouse NBA teams are young, tall, able to defend/disrupt well and to shoot 3’s. The Warriors would like them some more of that. At the same time, Warriors principal owner Joe Lacob has expressed an expectation that they’ll duck the second apron and even a desire to get under the luxury tax (though there’s no official edict).

Here're a few items to aid us in our summertime musings -- some dug up by me as well as some great minutia from the wonderful team finance and cap expert Bobby Marks.

Currently signed for 2024-25 (per sportrac):

a

Free Agents:

• Klay Thompson, Dario Saric, Gary Payton II (player option for 2025), Jerome Robinson, Lester Quinones and Usman Garuba.
• Chris Paul will be added to the above FA group if the Warriors decline to guarantee his money for next season. (and if they don't trade him).

Trade-related nitty gritty:

• "If Paul is traded, his salary cannot be aggregated with another contract on the roster and Golden State is not allowed to take back more money." --Bobby Marks, ESPN
• That's true in general as well: "From now until June 30, the Warriors are not allowed to send out cash in a trade, take back more money in a trade or aggregate outgoing salary. The three restrictions would be lifted if they get under the apron." --Bobby Marks, ESPN
• "If the Warriors finish in the second apron after the 2024-25 season concludes, their 2032 first-round pick would not be allowed to be traded." --Bobby Marks, ESPN.
• Draft Picks & Trades: (per Bobby Marks, ESPN.):
  • Can trade Their 2025 first-round pick starting on the night of the draft.
  • They have a maximum of two firsts allowable to move (2025/2027 or 2026/2028) in the next seven years.
  • Golden State can also trade its 2030 first-roundermz but only if it falls in between 1-20.
  • They are allowed to swap their own first in the next seven years and have two second-round picks available.

Extensions:

• Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody are both eligible for for rookie-scale extensions.
• "Curry is extension eligible [for a] ... one-year, $62.6 million extension ... through 2026-27." --Bobby Marks, ESPN. (This would be in addition to his already guaranteed  next 2 years. The over-38 rule for the 36-year-old Curry prohibits him from being extended for more years --Dave)
• Thompson, Paul, Payton and Looney can also be extended.

Financial deadlines:

• "The Warriors have up until June 24 to guarantee Kevon Looney's $8 million contract (there is $3 million guaranteed) and until June 28 for the $30 million owed to Chris Paul. If both players are waived, Golden State enters July with $137 million in salary -- $34 million below the luxury tax and $54 million under the second apron" -Bobby Marks, ESPN

Let the summer games begin!

____________________________________________

UPDATE:

Stuff to look forward to via Champs from the comments:

• NBA Draft Lottery: Sun May 12
• NBA Draft: Wed Jun 26 – Thu Jun 27
• Summer League (Vegas): Fri Jul 12 – Mon Jul 22

The post Long Hot $ummer appeared first on Fast Break.

The Warriors looked discombobulated from the opening tip, and they never really settled into the game. Stephen Curry was oddly passive and looked a step slow and unfocused throughout the contest, a culmination of a progressive decline (perhaps fatigue or injury related) that has been in effect for weeks now. Trayce Jackson-Davis started the contest but only played 11 minutes, a victim of the high-stakes environment and the Kings’ high energy. Andrew Wiggins couldn’t stay in front of his defensive assignment and shot just 4-11 from the floor, and ended up a -25 on the night. And Klay Thompson, so resilient all season, had his worst shooting night of the year (0 points, 0-10 from the floor, 0-6 from 3). When the coaching staff needed to push their chips onto the table, this is the group they chose, and that decision completely backfired. This game epitomized the season-long struggle to find any sort of rhythm or consistency. In game 83, if the coaching staff is still searching for the “best 5” lineup combination, then you are rolling the dice on the chosen lineup working out. This one didn’t - 14 turnovers, just 15 combined rebounds, just 9 non-Steph-made shots.

As has been typical this season, when the core didn’t have it, an infusion of youthful energy nearly bailed the Warriors out. Jonathan Kuminga put the Warriors on his back in the second quarter, helping them turn a double-digit deficit into a eminently manageable 4 point one at the half. He was the only player who generated even semi-easy offense for the Warriors, though he really struggled with the physicality of a playoff game. Brandin Podziemski chipped in with 5 points and 8 rebounds in 24 hustle-filled minutes. And Moses Moody, who has been yo-yo-ed into and out of the rotation more frequently than a Warriors turnover, stayed ready as always; his 16 points kept things close, but were ultimately futile.

It is glaringly obvious when watching other teams play that the modern NBA has passed the Warriors by. Defensively, every team knows exactly what the Warriors are going to run, and in critical games make a mockery of the Dubs’ egalitarian scheme by betting that non-Steph Warriors won’t score enough to matter (they’re right). Offensively, every team is stockpiled with shooters or shot creators up and down the roster; meanwhile the Warriors have exactly two players who dribble their way into their own shots, and both of them are under 6’3” tall. Other aging teams have a “bridge” layer who they can bank on; the Warriors have Andrew Wiggins, who has been one of the worst rotation players in the league despite some recent signs of life. All told, this is a multifaceted failure - of the front office (in terms of assembling a coherent roster), of the players (especially those who should be entering their primes), and of the coaching staff (who have been unable to extract the most from this flawed roster all year).

Ultimately, if this truly is the end, my overriding emotion is gratitude. When I was sitting in front of a dial-up internet connection in India in 2009, hoping that the Warriors would have a chance to draft a skinny kid from Davidson who made a splash in the NCAA Tournament, when the Dubs picked Klay Thompson from Wazzu, when they bet on the intangibles of Draymond Green in the second round, never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that the core three would each have not one, not two, not three, but four rings. This could very well be the last time we see these three legends in Warriors uniforms. If it is, what a ride it has been. But if it isn’t…the Warriors need to get serious this offseason. They cannot claim any extenuating circumstances that explain the struggles of this season, especially against good teams. They need to retool a large part of their roster, and they need to do so quickly. It is going to feel weird, not having anything Warriors-related to write about until June. In the interim, if you’re looking for a team to adopt this postseason…might I suggest the Mavs, Knicks, or Pacers? It will be fun to watch basketball without a rooting interest or anxiety, for a change.

Pregame:

And so, it all comes down to this. The Golden State Warriors will take on the Sacramento Kings in a win-or-go-home 9 seed vs. 10 seed play-in tournament matchup. The winner will play the loser of the 8 seed / 9 seed matchup; the loser heads to Cancun. I'll be back after the game with coverage one way or another.

The post All Good Things (Warriors 94, Kings 118) appeared first on Fast Break.

That was going to be my entire write-up, but as I came to post, I see that the Warriors might be resting several key players. Coach Steve Kerr may be thinking that it’s more important to have a rested squad for the play-ins than it is to go all out to improve their seeding. Or he might be hoping that a reduced roster will still be sufficient to win.We’ll find out as game time approaches.

Important context: pic.twitter.com/4lXdT2LjmJ

— Anika (@WardeIICurry30) April 14, 2024

The post Game 82 Relevance: Warriors - Jazz appeared first on Fast Break.

Post-game:

Tonight’s 114-109 loss to the Plcians occurred spiritually during a stretch of the second quarter after Steph Curry subbed in from his customary early-quarter rest. After hitting just one shot from deep in the first quarter, the Pelicans made 10 of their 13 threes in the second quarter. This barrage of threes came mostly from CJ McCollum and Trey Murphy III, the latter of whom sank a handful of threes that had Warriors’ announcer, Bob Fitzgerald, invoking Bay Area geography to convey the distance of those threes. The Warriors might have survived the hail of Pelicans’ threes if not for repeated and careless turnovers by Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. Those turnovers turned into easy transition buckets for the Pelicans, and by the end of the half, the Warriors trailed by 14 points.

That extended run by the Pelicans had very little to do with the play of Zion Williamson, who was defended brilliantly in the first half by Draymond Green and to a lesser extent, Andrew Wiggins. Williamson finished the first half with 3/8 shooting. The few buckets he made were in transition or off of offensive rebounds. Whenever Zion tried to muscle his way past Draymond Green on drives or post-ups, Green gave no ground and forced tough looks without fouling.

So when the second half started and Zion Williamson started making some of his shots, I thought again about that Pelicans’ second-quarter run. The Warriors had climbed out to an early lead in the first quarter with focused defense that prevented the Plcians from getting easy shots around the rim and their defense on Zion was key to setting the tone early. But all of their good work against Zion was undone by a few easy transition threes that jumpstarted the Pelicans’ shooting and led to increasingly absurd threes. Now at the start of the second half, Zion looked more comfortable as the Pelicans played with a cushion made possible by the Warriors’ carelessness.

But after less than five minutes of third-quarter play, the Warriors got back within five points. One key difference between the Warriors’ second and third-quarter play was the presence of Trayce Jaackson-Davis. During the first quarter, TJD scored 6 and made several nice passes out of pick-and-rolls that helped the Warriors manufacture clean looks at the rim. But in the second quarter, Jackson-Davis didn’t play a single minute. Not coincidentally, the Warriors without TJD resorted to jump-shooting as the Pelicans defenders felt comfortable gambling (successfully) with aggressive defense on the Warriors’ ball-handlers. 

Trayce Jackson-Davis’ presence juiced the Warriors’ offense in the early third quarter and led to easy buckets at the rim. When TJD sat again at the 5:25 mark, the Warriors’ offense sputtered as Draymond Green and Steph Curry both rushed offensive possessions with immoral foul-baiting and overeager turnovers. The Warrior subbed TJD back into the game at the 3:13 mark, but the Pelicans hot shooting padded their lead as high as 16 points before settling into a 13-point lead at the end of the third quarter.

The non-Steph minutes of the fourth quarter were arguably the most important minutes of the entire season. To my great surprise, the Warriors met the moment as Moses Moody hit tough and necessary shots at the end of the shot clock, and Trayce Jackson-Davis made big plays on both sides of the court. Steph Curry checked back into the game at the 7:57 mark with the Warriors down by just three points. Zion Williamson proceeded to score an and-one layup against Draymond Green, which Curry matched with a step-back three. Williamson scored on another layup at the rim on the ensuing possession and as he strode to the rim, I thought to myself that it sure was a shame that Trayce Jackson-Davis had been the person who came out of the game for Curry and not, say, Chris Paul, or one of the Warriors’ smaller players. 

As was the case for most of the game, Steph Curry’s decision-making became increasingly anxious when the Warriors went small. Perhaps the most consequential of these bad decisions was a turnover that occurred after he picked up his dribble and pivoted and pivoted in search of a release valve, only to leave the ball behind him for a Pelicans’ defender to score in transition. As Curry made a hangdog expression, Warriors’ announcer Kelenna Azubuike noted that Curry seemed to be moving as if he’d sprained his ankle. As if on cue, Curry ceded the ball on two straight possessions to play decoy on offense and switched onto the Pelicans’ weaker offensive players and conserve energy.

Right spraining his ankle, Curry hit two big threes, the second of which made the score 109-102 with 2:34 left. At the 1:58 mark, Curry nearly lost the ball driving to the hoop, only to split his defenders and hit a tough layup to make the score 109-104. On the next possession, Klay Thompson stripped Zion Williamson ala Andre Iguodala with the shot clock winding down. The Warriors got Andrew Wiggins to the free-throw line with 1:24 left and surprisingly... he... hit both of them to go 8/10 from the line on the night and cut the Pelicans’ lead to three points. The Warriors gave themselves a great shot at a win when Dyson Daniels missed a panicked floater, but that shot was rebounded by the Pelicans and turned into a fading CJ McCollum three with the clock winding down to make the score 112-106 with 1:02 left.

Within seconds, Steph Curry hit another step-back three to make the score 112-109. The Warriors sent a late double-team to CJ McCollum at the top of the key, which got Pelicans’ coach, Willie Green, off the bench to call a timeout with 8 seconds left on the shot clock and 40 seconds left on the game clock. The Warriors doubled McCollum again on a pick-and-roll, but Draymond Green picked up his 5th foul trying to draw a charge on Zion Williamson. With the clock reset, the Pelicans got one more good look to put the game away, but Zion Williamson missed his hook shot in the paint and Steph Curry grabbed a rebound with 19 seconds left. Curry rushed up the court and got a high screen from Draymond Green, but rather than wait the clock out and hunt for a good look, Curry rushed a one-handed three that turned into a Pelicans’ rebound and loose ball foul by Andrew Wiggins that the WArriors unsuccessfully challenged. When Trey Murphy II hit his two free throws to give the Pelicans a five-point lead, the game effectively ended. 

Tonight’s game not only condemned the Warriors to a difficult path through the Play-In tournament, it was a perfect microcosm of the high-variance wackiness that makes a single-game playoff so terrifying. The Pelicans ended the night shooting 20/38 from three compared to the Warriors’ 13/34  shooting from deep. Klay Thompson and Steph Curry finished the game with 19 and 33 points each on 6/19 and 12/23 shooting respectively. God forbid either or both of them go cold in a play-in game and god forbid another team gets hot enough from three to turn a game in a matter of minutes. The nature of Steve Kerr’s most frustrating instincts — a reluctance to make dramatic schematic in a single game and a tendency to seek out safety blankets in high-leverage moments — bears mentioning as it relates to the Play-In tournament. Although I’ve seen Kerr and his coaching staff come up with brilliant mid-series adjustments, I worry about his instincts in a single-game playoff where his instincts are more cautious.

The Warriors have one more game left this season. A win would obviously be nice, but if the Warriors are condemned to the bottom half of the Play-In tournament, I might earnestly prefer the Warriors play for their season on the road, given their focused and resilient play away from Chase Center, which has seemed to bring out their sloppiest impulses this season. In a single-game playoff, the Warriors will need contributions from everyone on the court. Steve Kerr will have to decide that some players are simply not cut out for this or that moment. To that point, the Warriors will need a healthy roster in the Play-In tournament, so here’s hoping that Gary Payton II and Jonathan Kuminga both get back to full health soon. Their absences were quite apparent whenever TJD sat and the Warriors found themselves without consistent rim threats. 

The Warriors are pretty much locked into an ulcer-inducing game with the Lakers in LA. A second consecutive season-ending loss to LeBron and the Fascist Lakers might keep me off of Twitter for a week or two and ruin my appetite to talk basketball with casual acquaintances who know I’m a rabid Warriors fan. For the sake of my sanity and the dignity of all things right and moral, I offer an invocation. 

BEAT LA.

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