The dubs were punched in the mouth today. This has never happened to the Steve Kerr era Warriors in the playoffs and in this magical season, not even in the regular season. The closest game that comes to mind is the 32 point drubbing they suffered at Portland right after the all-star game. Of course this game today carried way more gravitas than that mid-season contest. Not only was this a playoff loss, it was game 3 of the Western conference finals with the Warriors having split the previous 2 home games. Dubs need a road split to restore home court and they got the exact opposite tonight. They weathered the storm in the early first quarter and handled the energy boost OKC enjoyed being in front of their crowd, which is typical for home teams in such situations. They played decent defense, though the Thunder kept making shots and on offense, they had their opportunities and converted a good portion of them. They admirably tied the game at 40-40 in the second quarter and the game looked set for a fantastic finish, even a victory for the defending champs.
And then the bottom underneath the Warriors caved in and the game got out of control in a hurry. Ron Burgundy's "that escalated quickly" is the best line to describe what happened. Thunder ambushed the dubs and the champs looked rattled and helpless for the first time all season. Thunder defended better, ran faster, shot better, dunked more ferociously, and you could see their confidence was growing with every possession. All you need to know is, Dion Waiters was unstoppable and he was probably the 5th best Thunder on the floor. To be fair to Dion, he has had a great playoff run and the Thunder seem to go as he and the other role players go. There is no stopping Durant and Westbrook most of the time and the Thunder are unstoppable if some combination of Waiters, Roberson, Ibaka, and Foye are hitting 3s. On the other side, Kerr said Draymond is the heart and soul of the Warriors sometime last season and is still very true. They do not do well when he has a bad game and when they don't play good defense. Those two things are usually related since he is also one of their best defenders. Tonight, Draymond had a horrible game and their defense was impotent to say the least. This combination resulted in a serious drubbing.
But Draymond stole the headline for one big, wrong reason. He was fouled on a drive to the hoop by Steven Adams and he ended up kicking Adams in the groin as he was flailing and throwing his leg around. The score was 48-40 when that happened and seemed to ignite the 32-7 run to end the half and basically the game. More importantly, the key question now is, is Green going to be suspended? That leg kicking is a common move by guys to attract the attention of the referee to call a foul. But in this case, I did feel like his leg went a little higher and looked slightly unnatural. But I have to agree with Draymond in that it looked to me like he didn't even knew what went down and seemed to just walk away without even looking at Adams. So I am not sure how intentional it was. But the impact was a painful blow to Adams' privates and a similar incident caused Cleveland's Dahntay Jones' suspension. A Green suspension will definitely put the Warriors behind the eight ball in a series where all of a sudden, they look like the inferior team even with him. It's amazing how quickly perception changes and a poll on ESPN tonight places the dubs in the third place to win the championship after the Cavs and the Thunder.
As a long-suffering Suns fan who lost a real shot at championship in 2007 when Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw got suspended when they left the bench, I would hate a playoff series to be decided by suspensions. Also, this is not a cut-and-dry situation that David Stern wanted the "leaving the bench" scenario to be. There is some wiggle room here for the league to not suspend Green for this. But they are in a tough spot too because they just suspended Dahntay Jones and this is the second time in 3 games Green has connected with Adams' privates. It's going to be very interesting and Green's suspension is the last thing the dubs need. They are already looking very vulnerable with the drubbing they received today which was very reminiscent of how they usually beat other teams. Steven Adams has been a key in this series for the Thunder, actually throughout these entire playoffs, and he changes a lot of the Warrior shots and passes in the interior. But they also outplayed the Warriors in small ball during that avalanche of a run in the second quarter. Experts are now saying the Thunder basically looked like the better team with their athleticism and speed even against the so-called death lineup.
When you see something you have not seen all season, you wonder if this is something different, special, and more indicative of a larger trend or problem. Game 1 was about the dubs having a sub-par fourth quarter and missing 9 out of 10 threes. They still were just down by 3 in the final minutes and you figured if they shoot better and fix a few things, they will be fine. Thats exactly what happened in game 2. But this loss was different from that game 1. The dubs were down by 41 at one point and looked completely outclassed at both ends of the floor. This game can only boost OKC's confidence ad drive them to greater heights even if the champs are strong enough to not let this plant doubts in them. They have been down 2-1 in the past, but it looks different this time because this Thunder team is better than any other team the dubs have played over the 2 playoff runs. Last year's Grizzlies and Cavs team lost the next 3 games to lose the series after owning the aforementioned 2-1 lead. It's highly unlikely this Thunder team is headed in that direction. Warriors need Green in game 4 to have a shot. If not, they may be playing to avoid a 3 game losing streak themselves soon. At the end of the day, it is just one blowout and the series is just 2-1, but it does feel more dire now. Can't wait for game 4 so we learn more about these two teams.
Up north, the Raptors will show us tomorrow if they are for real or if they are just setting us up for one of those typical 5-game sweeps with a token home win that we see all the time in the NBA playoffs.
And then the bottom underneath the Warriors caved in and the game got out of control in a hurry. Ron Burgundy's "that escalated quickly" is the best line to describe what happened. Thunder ambushed the dubs and the champs looked rattled and helpless for the first time all season. Thunder defended better, ran faster, shot better, dunked more ferociously, and you could see their confidence was growing with every possession. All you need to know is, Dion Waiters was unstoppable and he was probably the 5th best Thunder on the floor. To be fair to Dion, he has had a great playoff run and the Thunder seem to go as he and the other role players go. There is no stopping Durant and Westbrook most of the time and the Thunder are unstoppable if some combination of Waiters, Roberson, Ibaka, and Foye are hitting 3s. On the other side, Kerr said Draymond is the heart and soul of the Warriors sometime last season and is still very true. They do not do well when he has a bad game and when they don't play good defense. Those two things are usually related since he is also one of their best defenders. Tonight, Draymond had a horrible game and their defense was impotent to say the least. This combination resulted in a serious drubbing.
But Draymond stole the headline for one big, wrong reason. He was fouled on a drive to the hoop by Steven Adams and he ended up kicking Adams in the groin as he was flailing and throwing his leg around. The score was 48-40 when that happened and seemed to ignite the 32-7 run to end the half and basically the game. More importantly, the key question now is, is Green going to be suspended? That leg kicking is a common move by guys to attract the attention of the referee to call a foul. But in this case, I did feel like his leg went a little higher and looked slightly unnatural. But I have to agree with Draymond in that it looked to me like he didn't even knew what went down and seemed to just walk away without even looking at Adams. So I am not sure how intentional it was. But the impact was a painful blow to Adams' privates and a similar incident caused Cleveland's Dahntay Jones' suspension. A Green suspension will definitely put the Warriors behind the eight ball in a series where all of a sudden, they look like the inferior team even with him. It's amazing how quickly perception changes and a poll on ESPN tonight places the dubs in the third place to win the championship after the Cavs and the Thunder.
As a long-suffering Suns fan who lost a real shot at championship in 2007 when Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw got suspended when they left the bench, I would hate a playoff series to be decided by suspensions. Also, this is not a cut-and-dry situation that David Stern wanted the "leaving the bench" scenario to be. There is some wiggle room here for the league to not suspend Green for this. But they are in a tough spot too because they just suspended Dahntay Jones and this is the second time in 3 games Green has connected with Adams' privates. It's going to be very interesting and Green's suspension is the last thing the dubs need. They are already looking very vulnerable with the drubbing they received today which was very reminiscent of how they usually beat other teams. Steven Adams has been a key in this series for the Thunder, actually throughout these entire playoffs, and he changes a lot of the Warrior shots and passes in the interior. But they also outplayed the Warriors in small ball during that avalanche of a run in the second quarter. Experts are now saying the Thunder basically looked like the better team with their athleticism and speed even against the so-called death lineup.
When you see something you have not seen all season, you wonder if this is something different, special, and more indicative of a larger trend or problem. Game 1 was about the dubs having a sub-par fourth quarter and missing 9 out of 10 threes. They still were just down by 3 in the final minutes and you figured if they shoot better and fix a few things, they will be fine. Thats exactly what happened in game 2. But this loss was different from that game 1. The dubs were down by 41 at one point and looked completely outclassed at both ends of the floor. This game can only boost OKC's confidence ad drive them to greater heights even if the champs are strong enough to not let this plant doubts in them. They have been down 2-1 in the past, but it looks different this time because this Thunder team is better than any other team the dubs have played over the 2 playoff runs. Last year's Grizzlies and Cavs team lost the next 3 games to lose the series after owning the aforementioned 2-1 lead. It's highly unlikely this Thunder team is headed in that direction. Warriors need Green in game 4 to have a shot. If not, they may be playing to avoid a 3 game losing streak themselves soon. At the end of the day, it is just one blowout and the series is just 2-1, but it does feel more dire now. Can't wait for game 4 so we learn more about these two teams.
Up north, the Raptors will show us tomorrow if they are for real or if they are just setting us up for one of those typical 5-game sweeps with a token home win that we see all the time in the NBA playoffs.
2 comments:
Uh oh, looks like it's Drub Nation * 2!!
Things are not looking good for the Golden State Warriors. They didn't get their road split and now they need to beat OKC three times in three games to advance in the playoffs. I can't believe this is the same Thunder team that lost Game 1 to the Spurs by 32 points (and had numerous obituaries written about them).
Draymond didn't get suspended (which was quite the controversy) but at times it seemed like his presence was actually good news for Oklahoma City! He really needs to step up big time the rest of the series if Golden State is to have any chance.
As a Suns fan I'm sure you remember the first round of the 2006 NBA playoffs when Phoenix was down 3-1 to the Lakers. My "bold" prediction is that we see a repeat of that this year! Championship teams tend to face (and overcome) at least one major obstacle en route to the promised land and I think we're going to see Golden State win the next three games (probably thanks to an unlikely hero) and punch their ticket to the NBA Finals to meet LeBron and Co. once again. Toronto had a good run but it's going to be curtains for them pretty soon.
It should be a fun couple of weeks in the NBA (and NHL) and I can't wait to see them unfold!
Good call on the Warriors! They have forced a game 7. Amazing!
This is a tough series for Dray. He is giving up 3 to 6 inches to everybody defending him and they are athletic too. If they goto the finals, he will do better.
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