SAN FRANCISCO – The Golden State Warriors find themselves the target of the Western Conference Play-In Tournament, needing two wins to make the real playoffs. A loss this week brings them closer to the inevitable end of their era.
That’s the disappointing conclusion of 82 games: No. 10. And their latest twist is that they play well with their backs against the wall.
It’s true. The best players on this team have achieved epic postseason triumphs, responding to several of the limits to which they were pushed. Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Chris Paul, Andrew Wiggins, Kevon Looney have earned credibility in this situation.
However, after 82 games, it is also clear that the drive to win is the only hope left to save this season. Although it is based on its history of moments of encounter, it is also the last juice left to baste this seasonal turkey.
This is where they are now.
“I just feel like we need to win,” Green said Sunday after watching the Warriors beat the Utah Jazz, 123-116, in a black tracksuit and green cement Jordan 3s. “But it’s exciting. You know, it’s a matter of life and death. It probably feels more like an NCAA tournament. It kind of gives you that feeling. …We just have to go win.”
Legacies built in June don’t sit well in March Madness.
It’s hard to trust them to pull it off, but doing so would make a lot of sense. Welcome to the intermission that is the Warriors. They always give you a reason to believe they can achieve it, tempered by the evidence that those days are long gone. They are still good enough to beat almost any opponent, especially a flawed one. At the same time, they are not good enough to muster their best players at will and, less often, can outplay their opponents’ best.
The Warriors could lose to the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday, and it would be an uneventful outcome. If they bowed out of this season so abruptly, mired in mediocrity alongside the Chicago Bulls or Atlanta Hawks, it would be unworthy of their resume but certainly worthy of this particular campaign. Of course, they could also get around the Kings, outdoing their younger brothers up north like they did last postseason, all in the name of nostalgia.
You just can’t tell with this team.
But what we do know, what the exhaustive NBA season tends to make clear, is that they end this season further from their goal than when it began. The only way to change that reality now is to make the playoff race worthy of your belief.
A year ago, when the then-defending champion Warriors finished as a No. 6 seed and had to go to Sacramento for Games 1 and 7, that It was considered a low season. And when the Warriors were finally eliminated in the second round, it was abnormal to return home in May after six consecutive trips to the NBA Finals in years when Curry, Green and Thompson were healthy.
“It’s different, but it’s something you have to accept,” Thompson said. “We have a chance to do it. It’s all you can ask for. We put ourselves in a position to be successful along the way. We’ve been playing very well away from home, especially lately. Obviously, it’s different than it was in 2022. But it doesn’t matter. It’s still basketball. “We have a lot of experience to draw on.”
The omnipresent theme then, echoing through the halls of Crypto.com Arena after their Game 6 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in last season’s playoffs, was how they had maximized their roster: a double message of how close they were. , finishing among the best. four best in the West and how they needed more to get there.
They came into this season feeling like they had added what they needed. They traded for Paul; drafted two productive rookies, Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis; and cleared space in the rotation for budding star Jonathan Kuminga.
Additionally, Curry played in 74 games, his most since 2016-17. Thompson played in 77 games, the most since he returned from consecutive season-ending injuries. Wiggins played in 71 games after just 37 last season.
It produced two more victories.
The result is their lowest finish in the Western Conference since the injury-plagued 2019-20 season. This is where they are now.
The story is not complete. They could alter the narrative. They could win consecutive road games to reach the playoffs: in Sacramento and against the loser of the Lakers and the New Orleans Pelicans. They could defeat the inexperienced Oklahoma City Thunder, the first seed in the West and considered the most vulnerable due to their youth. Such an upset would pit the Warriors in a series against the Los Angeles Clippers or Dallas Mavericks. Although the Warriors would be the losers, it is not unreasonable to imagine it. Dallas has been one of the best teams since the All-Star break, and the Clippers are at the top of their roster. But both teams have flaws. Winning that series would put the Warriors in the Western Conference finals.
See how easy it is? Combine what is possible with what is probable. Apply the greatness of the past in current paradigms. To rationalize a better existence for these Warriors.
The experienced Warriors say they play well with their backs against the wall. We’ll soon find out if this continues in the Life or Death Play-In Tournament. (Ronald Martínez/Getty Images)
As coach Steve Kerr maintains, this is a better team than the one the Warriors cobbled together last season. Still, they lost ground in their quest for a fifth championship, as the conference’s best made greater strides than Golden State. Nine teams in the West are better than these Warriors. Nine. That’s a jarring conclusion for a team that boasts so much greatness.
This entire season the Warriors have been waiting and promising to find their groove. Eventually, the story proclaimed, they would land somewhere among the contenders, where their resumes suggest they belong. But this season was a delayed gratification curve.
They never resolved the hand-to-hand fights that seemed to be their wheelhouse. They never overcame the local problems, one of the most disconcerting elements of the season. They never found their way up the conference to sixth place.
They finally found a step forward, going 25-12 after January. But when they had the opportunity to secure the No. 8 seed, the last conquest of the regular season, the Warriors confirmed that their problems were invincible. They lost another close game, at home, with a lot at stake, against a beatable New Orleans team.
I would suggest that an update, a major one, is needed somewhere. The other option, which was certainly presented to owner Joe Lacob by someone fiscally responsible, is for them to cut costs and regroup. End the era now instead of chasing its shadow.
One more race could change that. One more Warriors-style kick could show they are a few tweaks away from a comeback. Of course it’s possible. It’s curry. It is green. It’s Thompson. To hell with the odds.
They have their backs to the wall. It’s life or death. Win or go home. They’re designed for this March Madness-style setup. Right, Klay?
“I never played in it. I can’t relate to that,” Thompson, the Washington State product, said as he ended the interview by walking away. He took a few steps away before shouting an addendum. “However, the NIT. That is the same format.”
This is where they are now.
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(Top photo of Klay Thompson during Friday’s game against the Pelicans: Kavin Mistry/Getty Images)
