Once-flawless Warriors have been pushed to the brink
By Eric He
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. The Warriors were taken apart by the Thunder in Game 3, came back in Game 4, made no adjustments, and took another beating that has put them on the brink of elimination and sparked a red alert throughout the Bay Area.
We are watching something that not even the most radical believers could see coming: the systematic dismantling of a historically-great team that seemingly does no wrong, has no flaws, and is pegged to be the next dynasty that we’ll all tell our grandkids about.
This is the burden of being the unabashed defending champions, of winning 73 games, of playing a transcendent style of basketball all with the hubris and arrogance you’d expect from a team that knows it is re-writing the history books with every swish and every double-digit win.
If the Warriors lose this series, irrational people will inevitably scream that they are just a fluke. Others will yell about how the Warriors tired themselves out with the 24-0 start or chasing the regular season wins record. While they were in the midst of reaching those marks, the Warriors played it down, claiming their main goal was a championship and these accomplishments would just be nice to have along the way.
In theory, 24-0 and 73-9 meant nothing. But in practice, it had to mentally wear on the Warriors. The pressure was already high before the season started, with “experts” everywhere discrediting their championship and doubting the effectiveness of the three-point shot. Tack on the ensuing historical season that was, and dare I say this is the most “championship or bust” playoff run for a defending champion ever.
With that in mind, the Warriors were expected to roll through to the Finals and prove they could beat a fully-healthy Cavaliers squad in the Finals. They walked past the Rockets while holding their breath about Stephen Curry‘s knee. They survived the Blazers nonetheless, and the Thunder, while certainly a threat, were termed as flawed and very beatable, especially considering Curry had ripped them to shreds and stomped on their ashes on that one February night in Oklahoma City.
But now, the Warriors are in full crisis mode. The Thunder, who were often forgotten about as “that other team” the West behind the Spurs and Warriors, suddenly look unbeatable, peaking as well as any team has ever peaked. Kevin Durant is a freak of nature who is unguardable on offense and a problem on defense with arms that stretch halfway across the country. Russell Westbrook‘s explosiveness is simply too fast and too much. Steven Adams and Serge Ibaka have been tremendous X-factors, and Andre Roberson made the Warriors pay for daring him to shoot, putting up 17 big points in Game 4. And when you allow Roberson to score 17 points, something isn’t right.
The Warriors, on the contrary, were ice-cold. Curry was nowhere to be found, missing layups and jumpers that he normally makes in his sleep. Draymond Green looked completely rattled by the Thunder and the crowd, rushing passes and shots. He finished with one field goal and regret that he ever dared venture near Adams’ groin. The only Warriors’ player to show up was Klay Thompson, who went off for 19 points in the third quarter and almost single-handedly brought them back in the game.
Against the Suns in November, he might have. But it’s going to take a lot more than one player going off for the Warriors to beat the Thunder, who, quite frankly, just want this more. They managed to grab 16 more rebounds than the Warriors, and double the amount of offensive boards. It seemed like every loose ball ended up in the hands of the Thunder, every rebound popping out for an extra possession, leading to a demoralizing bucket.
Oklahoma City has done a masterful job of not letting the Warriors go on their patented spurts where they either come back from a deficit or open up a large lead. The Warriors went on brief runs late in the first quarter and Thompson erupted in the third, but those runs didn’t make a big enough dent for the Thunder to ever feel threatened. That’s crazy to think, because few other teams can weather the storm when the Warriors are in the groove.
They’ll have to find their groove quick, which is easier said than done. The Thunder have the Warriors by the neck and there are very few foreseeable methods by which the Warriors can loosen the hold. The Warriors’ vaunted Death Lineup once again struggled in Game 4 — for the series, it is a brutal minus-27 in 34 minutes, with the Thunder shooting nearly 50 percent against it.
The Thunder have gotten physical with Curry, who is either dealing with some kind of injury or fatigued. They have rendered Green useless, taking him out of the offensive flow, which is trouble because this team runs through Draymond in so many ways. If Green cannot find the all-around game that makes him so effective in Game 5, the Warriors might as well start packing for the golf course. It’s the length of the Thunder defense — Durant, Ibaka, Adams, and Roberson — that has given the Warriors’ fits, deflecting their passes, contesting their shots and disrupting the offense.
Most of it is the Thunder just playing out of their damn minds. Some of it is the Warriors making careless passes and playing unintelligent basketball. Problem is, I don’t see a fix. The Warriors’ small ball is being crushed by the Thunder’s better version of small ball. Durant and Westbrook are imposing their will on the game and outplaying Curry, Thompson and Green. Leaving Roberson open is backfiring. There’s nothing the Warriors can strategically do to alter the tone of the series aside from preventing careless turnovers and hoping all three of their stars wake up.
The Thunder have the Warriors dazed, confused and slumbering around, which is quite an unfamiliar and horrifying sight. The team that has drawn comparisons to Jordan’s Bulls has been officially pushed to the brink — well before anyone thought they would — to prove that they can still be the NBA’s next great dynasty.