One thing felt eerily related concerning the Warriors’ Sport 5 loss in Houston.
“They weren’t playing ‘Whoop That Trick,’” Draymond Inexperienced smirked, “but they may as well have been.”
The Warriors fell behind by as many as 31 factors within the 131-116 loss, however there’s a cause why they’re not panicking because the sequence shifts again to San Francisco.
They’ve been right here earlier than.
“Yeah, similar vibe,” coach Steve Kerr mentioned of Wednesday’s loss, drawing on a comparability to a different current potential closeout Sport 5 his squad misplaced badly on the street.
It was simply on the group’s most up-to-date of six journeys to the NBA Finals below Kerr, in 2022, that that they had an opportunity to place away the Memphis Grizzlies and have been blown out even worse than it acquired in Houston — 134-95.
That recreation ended with the Grizzlies celebrating to their group anthem — Whoop That Trick. The groups took the courtroom two nights later in San Francisco, and the remainder is historical past.
“At this point in our careers, we’ve seen it all. Had all the experiences, so we’ve got something to draw on,” Inexperienced mentioned. “(Houston) played a good game. … We turn the page quick.”
In an analogous vein to the 2022 Grizzlies, who additionally featured Dillon Brooks and Steven Adams, Kerr famous that the Rockets have been a “young team on their home floor trying to stay alive.”
However the Warriors have expertise of their nook.
The trio of Inexperienced, Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler III has performed a mixed 437 postseason video games. Below Kerr, Golden State has gone 27-12 in conditions the place both group might go dwelling.
“Our guys have been here many times,” Kerr mentioned.
“While it’s all well and great to talk about, you have to go do something about it on the court,” Curry added. “Our group is trying to do this for the first time together and I love that challenge because we have an opportunity to write our own story in how we bounce back. We’ve had a pretty resilient group over the past two months, and it has to show on Friday.”
Moses Moody wasn’t even a highschool prospect when the Warriors’ dynasty started, however even he has championship expertise to attract on from their 2022 run when he was a rookie.
A spherical after Golden State superior over Memphis, the Warriors have been up 3-0 on the Mavericks within the Western Convention Finals heading into Sport 4 in Dallas. They fell behind by as many as 29 factors in that one just for the reserves to make it attention-grabbing on the finish.
Sound acquainted?
“They brought their starters back, tired ‘em out, they had to fight for the win, and we walked them off the next game,” Moody mentioned. “So let’s finish this story the same way.”
The identical factor occurred in Houston, and Moody was the central catalyst. Main the second unit after Kerr despatched his starters to the bench for good with 5:50 left within the third quarter, Moody scored a team-high 25 factors and helped minimize the deficit to as shut as 13 factors.
“The goal was to make them put their starters in and not get a break, so we accomplished that,” Moody mentioned. “We didn’t get the win, but we got something out of it.”
Curry continues to nurse a sore proper thumb and Butler was clearly nonetheless impacted by the autumn that stored him out of Sport 2. However the massive deficit allowed them to relaxation whereas the combat put up by the Warriors’ bench compelled each Rockets starter to log double-digit minutes within the second half.
“They set a tone that we’re going to need for Game 6,” Kerr mentioned. “Even though we lost the game I thought it was crucial that we fought the way we did in the fourth quarter. … There were some positives in what was otherwise a decisive loss.”
Whereas Curry is right that the present group has but to perform something, Kerr famous that Butler has no scarcity of his personal playoff pedigree to attract on.
When the Miami Warmth wanted to win Sport 7 of the Jap Convention Finals, after blowing a 3-0 sequence lead towards the Boston Celtics, Butler scored 28 factors in a straightforward 103-84 win.
“We’re fine,” Butler mentioned. “Our confidence isn’t going to waver. Begin out higher and play a greater total recreation, as a result of we all know how good of a group we’re as a unit, we all know how good our gamers are as people. As starters we simply have to start out us off higher, which we all know that we’ll do.
“We’ll be fine.”
Initially Revealed: April 30, 2025 at 9:50 PM PDT
