Will the Warriors become complacent after a blowout victory in Game 3, or will they take a 3-1 lead with a win in Game 4?
When the Warriors are fully engaged, they are probably the best basketball team ever assembled.
We saw evidence of that with a comfortable victory in Game 1 and complete dominance in a 41-point victory on Sunday night.
However, we’ve also seen them come out lethargically a few times during this postseason run in a Game 4 loss to the Spurs, a bad loss in Game 3 against New Orleans, and getting beat by the Rockets in Houston in Game 2.
It would be easy for the Warriors to come into Game 4 with less motivation than they had in Game 3.
They’ll be coming off of a 40+ point victory, and it’s difficult to keep any team focused after they just embarrassed their opponent. And I think the Warriors’ players know that they are the better team in this series.
One thing that will help Golden State fight against this complacency is the Oracle Arena crowd. Warriors fans were going absolutely nuts during Steph Curry’s explosion during the third quarter of Game 3, and that kind of energy can prevent their stars from coasting.
Golden State has won an NBA record 16 consecutive home playoff games, and their 17th straight win would give them a commanding lead in this Western Conference Finals.
The Warriors will likely be without Andre Iguodala on Tuesday night, which will have a major effect on their rotations. We’ll see how Steve Kerr chooses to shake things up with Iguodala on the sidelines.
I think the Warriors will know what’s at stake in Game 4, and they’ll avoid coming out flat like they did in Game 2.
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Game Details
Golden State Warriors vs Houston Rockets
Tip-Off: Tuesday, May 22, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. PST
Location: Oracle Arena, Oakland, California
TV: TNT
Radio: 95.7 The Game, Warriors Radio Network