Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section 415 email newsletter here and subscribe to the “Section 415" podcast wherever you listen.
SACRAMENTO — The Warriors’ penultimate regular season game revealed a painful truth.
If they play like they did for most of their loss to the Kings, their season will end swiftly. Travel agents around the Bay Area, rejoice.
If they play like they did in the third quarter, they’ll have a chance to win a pair of road play-in games. Cabo can wait.
Friday night at the Golden 1 Center was supposed to be a dress rehearsal. After months of merciless injuries, what’s left of the Warriors’ depleted roster was available. The team started Steph Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Gui Santos, Draymond Green, and Kristaps Porzingis — a lineup of their five arguably best players.
Then Curry had to shake off an early rolled ankle, the Warriors couldn’t contain point guard Devin Carter, and they ultimately lost 124-118 to the Kings, who had every incentive to lose. Porzingis looked lethargic at times, Santos labored on both ends of the floor, Gary Payton II got ejected, and the Warriors let janky officiating disrupt their flow.
It was more of a stress test than a dry run. Golden State, finally getting healthy, experienced some chest pains.
“We’re going into Wednesday’s play-in game without much momentum, without a whole lot of continuity, health, all that,” head coach Steve Kerr said postgame. “So we’re trying to put it together quickly. And we’re going to have to clean up a lot of mistakes between now and then. But we do have some time, but we have to focus.”
Aside from a 38-19 third quarter, the Warriors were disconnected. But hey, Podziemski scored 30 points for the first time in his career.
“The account (opens in new tab) can be activated now,” Podziemski joked postgame.
Friday’s loss sets up a mostly unsubstantial regular season finale against the Clippers at the Intuit Dome, where the two teams will most likely meet again for the 9/10 game next Wednesday. If they win that, the Warriors will need another play-in victory to advance into the playoffs.
“I’ve got lots of hope,” Kerr said. “I think we can win two games because I know these guys and I believe in them. But I also know that we’re not where we need to be. We showed that tonight. So, Sunday, I’d like to get more reps. Have more focus, fewer mistakes. And we’ll have a couple of days to prepare and get after it.”
The Warriors’ defense was their biggest issue against the Kings. They allowed Sacramento to hit 10 of its first 19 3-pointers and finish 39% from deep.
Santos in particular had a tough time staying in front of ball-handlers, including Carter, on the perimeter. Porzingis also struggled, which has been a consistent theme on that end since he joined the team.
On one play, the 7-foot-2 Porzingis allowed the 6-foot-2 Carter to snare an offensive rebound on the block, then failed to disrupt the guard’s putback layup. Carter later reached 29 points on a step-back 3 over Santos, who gave up too much space in semi-transition.
The Warriors surrendered 63 first-half points and 42 more in the fourth quarter, when the veterans rested. The Warriors’ energy level was so low to start, Kerr went to a unit of deep bench reserves to spice things up before the halftime horn.
“We were not good defensively,” Kerr said. “We had one good stretch in the game, the third quarter, when I thought we set a tone defensively … But that was it. The other three quarters were really poor.”
The third quarter was also the only time the Warriors looked in sync offensively. Curry scored just 11 points on 3-for-8 shooting, though his minutes are on an upward trajectory. Porzingis missed eight of his first 10 field goal attempts, too.
It was only the second time Curry and Porzingis have shared the floor. The new center is used to playing in systems predicated more on isolations and spacing, like in Boston and Dallas. The chaotic energy of Curry’s off-ball movement is a learning curve.
Back-to-back ugly possessions in the fourth quarter — which ended in a near-shot clock violation and then a three-in-the-key — were microcosms of the Warriors’ larger disjointedness.
“Offensively, we’re going to be fine I think, throughout the course of games,” Curry said. “Just because we have threats out there and we can create good shots, it’s just a matter of if you’re going to make them or not. It’s more just playing solid.”
Curry said the Warriors have been trying to find all the one-liners they can rally around recently, summing up the urgency of the moment and the task at hand. They had much greater expectations heading into the season than a third straight play-in bid, but Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody’s devastating injuries, plus Curry’s extended absence, made this their reality.
“Forty-eight great minutes, that’s all we have in front of us,” Curry said of the team’s upcoming play-in bout.
The Warriors flew to Los Angeles directly from Sacramento after the defeat. Curry’s bags are packed for 12 days, with enough outfits to last him through Game 2 of a first-round series.
Think he’s going to need all those pairs of clean socks?
“I’m so happy that in 17 years, that’s the first time I’ve been asked a question like that,” Curry answered. “Absolutely.”
此内容由惯性聚合(RSS阅读器)自动聚合整理，仅供阅读参考。 原文来自 — 版权归原作者所有。