Last
Thursday night was going to be the final game for the then back-to-back
defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA.
They hoped that game, which was Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals was not going to
be their last game of this season and their run as reigning NBA champs. Thanks
to one half of the “Splash Brothers” it looked like they were headed for a
winner take all Game 7. Their chances for a three-peat though diminished with
the loss of their All-Star shooting guard; a strong fourth quarter by the
visitors’ reserve guard and a missed game-winner by the other half of the
“Splash Brothers” played a big role in the conclusion of one of the best runs
of winning in NBA history.
A
potential three-point field goal missed on the Warriors final possession by
two-time Kia MVP of the two-time defending NBA champion Warriors Stephen Curry
and Toronto Raptors reserve guard Fred VanVleet scoring 12 of his 22 points in
the final period, going 5 for 11 from three-point range were two main reasons
the Raptors won Game 6 of the 2019 Finals 114-110 on Thursday night, to win the
series 4-2 and capture their first Larry O’Brien trophy in franchise history.
The
Warriors were put in a position to push this series to a seventh and decisive
game back in Toronto, Ontario thanks to perennial All-Star Klay Thompson, who
had a game-high 30 points, hitting 4 for 6 from three-point range and 10 for 10
from the charity stripe. They also got a strong performance from 2015 Finals
MVP Andre Iguodala who had 22 points on 9 for 15 from the field, including 3
for 6 from three-point range. Fellow All-Star Draymond Green had his sixth
triple-double of these playoffs, his second of this Finals series with 11
points, 19 rebounds, 13 assists with three steals and two block shots. That
made up for Curry off shooting night where he was just 6 for 17 from the floor,
including 3 for 11 from three-point range.
Unfortunately,
the Warriors, who were without Kevin Durant, who ruptured his right Achilles in
the team’s 106-105 win in Game 5 last Monday night lost their hot hand in
Thompson, who was 9 for 15 shooting in the contest when he landed awkwardly on
his left knee after getting fouled on a two-handed dunk attempt by the Raptors
Danny Green with 2:22 left in the third quarter.
Thompson
was helped off the floor and walked partially down the tunnel towards the
Warriors’ dressing room looking to be done for the night, but in shocking
fashion re-emerged to shoot the two free throws because if he did not come back
to shoot the foul shots, he could not come back. He took the two free throws
before leaving the game for what was revealed via an MRI that Thompson tore the
ACL in his left knee.
“More
than what-ifs is just feeling bad for the players involved. Injuries are always
a part of the NBA season-any professional sport, injuries play a huge role,”
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, whose team is now 6-2 in elimination games
under his watch said after the loss. “It’s just the nature of these kind of
injuries, the severity of these injuries. And we’ll know more about Klay. But
we can sit here and say, well, if this hadn’t happened or that hadn’t happened,
that doesn’t matter. What matters is Kevin Durant is going to miss next season
with an Achilles tear and Klay suffered a knee injury.”
What
occurred on Thursday was more than just the Warriors run and back-to-back
champions concluded, it was the fact that their prospects for getting back took
a major hit with the injuries to Durant, who prior to Game 5 had not played
since straining his left calf in Game 5 of the West Semifinals versus the
Houston Rockets.
On
top of that Thompson will be unrestricted free agent this summer and Durant
will opt out of the Final year of his two-year contract of $31.5 million and
become an unrestricted free agent.
The
Warriors’ front office led by General Manager Bob Myers has made it clear they
want to re-sign both Durant and Thompson to max contracts, even if they sit out
all next season to heel from their injuries.
If
Durant and Thompson do sign max deals to stay with the Warriors this summer,
the team will be on the hook for a $200 million pay roll for the upcoming
2019-20 season.
Myers
especially showed how much both Durant and Thompson mean to the organization by
when they both were carried to the locker room following their injuries in
Games 5 and 6 respectably, he was right there alongside them.
Both
Myers and Coach Kerr are bracing for the uncertainty of this summer that could
see Durant and their hopes of being champs again if they can re-sign him, while
still coping with the heartbreak of seeing him go down just one week and a day
ago.
The
good news if there is anything is that Durant had surgery to repair that
ruptured Achilles just 48 hours after it happened in New York.
There
has been no word from the Warriors when Thompson will have surgery to repair
that torn ACL in his left knee.
“Well, the injury kind of throws everything
for a loop, so I have no idea what Kevin’s going to do,” Coach Kerr said to the
media on Friday. “I know that we all want him back, and we think this is a
great situation for him and vice versa. So, hopefully we get him back and keep
this thing going with the understanding that he’s a free agent and we want
what’s best for him, and he’s free to make any choice he wants. Hopefully he’s
back, and we will all give him advice, any counsel that he needs. And
ultimately, he’s going to make his own decision. He’s earned it.”
GM
Myers, whose been through a roller coaster of emotions during this past week
echoed those same feelings saying that he has no idea what Durant is going to
do with the most important decision of his NBA career.
“All
I’ll say is those guys are highly important to us, and deserving of being
rewarded in the right manner,” he added. “So, you know, knowing them too as
people, those are people you beyond what everybody here sees… It’s hard to find
high-quality people and both [Durant and Thompson] are that. And so, you try to
keep those guys within these walls the best you can.”
The
task of taking care of both Durant and Thompson this summer will be a tall
order considering that they will have to add to a roster that unlike years past
was filled with depth was short of that as we saw in this recent completed
Finals tilt against the now champion Raptors.
The
team has five guaranteed contracts for their 2019-20 roster in Curry ($40.2
million), Draymond Green ($18.5 million); Iguodala ($17.2 million), who may
retire this summer; Damian Jones ($2.3 million); Jacob Evans ($1.9 million).
While
reserve guard Shaun Livingston and Alfonzo McKinnie are on the books to make
$7.6 and $1.5 million next season, those contracts are not guaranteed.
Besides
having to re-sign Thompson and Durant, DeMarcus Cousins, Andrew Bogut, Jonas
Jerebko, and Kevon Looney, who played most of The Finals with a chest injury
are all unrestricted free agents this summer. Reserves in guard Quinn Cook and
forward/center Jordan Bell are restricted free agents.
Thompson
has expressed since the start of this season and even on the stage when the
Warriors on their second straight title in a four-game sweep of the then
four-time Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers that he wants to
finish his career with the team that drafted him and help build term the
Warriors from a cellular dwell into a squad that made The Finals for five
consecutive seasons.
If
there is one sign that Durant might stay with the Warriors is that back in
February when news of him possibly signing with the New York Knicks in free
agency, he came out emphatically to the media then and said, “I’m trying to
play basketball.”
“I
have no clue where that stuff comes from. I just focus on playing ball every
single day, and I can’t control what people say about me or what they say about
my future, or what I should do,” Durant said during a media session at the
start of the new year. “I just try to come to work every single day and life
will figure itself out for me.”
From
the start of this season, the Warriors made a commitment to cherish the 2018-19
season, fully knowing that the training camp roster this September could look
completely different.
The
venue will definitely be different as the Warriors will be moving its games,
practices, and day-to-day operations to the new Chase Center across the bay in
San Francisco, CA starting next season.
The
players have insisted throughout this season that they have never taken for
granted this special five-year run of winning three Larry O’Brien trophies and
in their five straight berths in The Finals.
The
fans of the bay area have certainly not taken this five-year run for granted
selling out Oracle Arena for the 343rd consecutive time in the 2,070th
game played there in the 47th and final season.
They,
along with NBA fans in the U.S. and across the globe say some of the greatest
team basketball you will ever see a team play on both ends of the floor. A dynamic
backcourt in Stephen Curry, who went from being a player whose early career was
headlined by ankle injuries to where he has become a perennial All-Star, a
two-time Kia MVP and the apple of the eyes of many NBA fans and Klay Thompson,
who went from an unknown into one of the best two-way players in the business,
who moved into third place on the NBA’s all-time postseason list for threes
made with 374, trailing only Curry (470) and Hall of Famer, and two-time NBA
champion with the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat Ray Allen (385).
They
saw Draymond Green go from being a Second-Round pick seven years ago into the
NBA’s ultimate swiss army knife, where he can impact a game on both ends of the
floor.
When
Green in his career, regular season and playoffs combined has registered a
triple-double, the Warriors have a 29-3 mark.
In
Durant, who signed with the Warriors in the summer of 2016 put them over top
and they went from a team that split their first two appearances in The Finals
against the Cavs going 7-6 to a team that basically swept them the next two
times they met going 8-1.
“They
have a lot to be proud. For five years they showed us what championship
basketball was all about. And their finest moment you make the case was when
adversity set in,” former Warriors head coach and NBA on ESPN/ABC color analyst
Mark Jackson said at the close of the Game 6 broadcast last Thursday night on
ABC. “Had every right to let go of the rope and they went out like champions.
An incredible inspiring story.”
“They
put guys in the Hall of Fame with this five-year run, and rightfully so. I
loved the way it ended. This crowd, seeing them go out fighting and competing.
An inspiring story across the board and a salute to the Bay Area.”
Yes,
the Western will be more competitive, especially with what the Lakers did by
acquiring perennial All-Star big man Anthony Davis from the New Orleans
Pelicans, the first of many impactful moves on the horizon in “The Association”
this summer.
The
future for this team and their chances of winning more titles does hinge on
whether they can re-sign Durant and Thompson and if they can come back and play
to the level that has made them future first ballot Hall of Famers after this
upcoming season.
“You’re
talking about two career-altering injuries to two of your best players in
back-to-back Finals games. Unheard of. It will probably never happen again,”
Coach Kerr said. “We’re in new territory now and you just have to keep moving
forward.”
As
the Warriors move forward into the 2019-20 season, they will still have Curry
and Green, who will be an unrestricted free agent next summer and head coach
Steve Kerr will still be on the sidelines.
The
Warriors know what they need to do and if they can retain Thompson and Durant,
even if they redshirt this upcoming season, they have proven they can and will
do whatever it takes to win, as demonstrated by their 18-7 record in the
postseason since 2015 in close out games and their NBA record streak of 23
straight playoff series winning a game in the opposing team’s building.
That
is why as important as it is for the Warriors organization and their fans to
look forward to an uncertain future, it is also important to appreciate what
they just did these past five seasons that may never be accomplished again.
“Winning
one game in the regular-season is hard. Winning a playoff game, a playoff
series and a championship exceptionally hard,” former Knicks and Rockets head
coach and now ESPN/ABC color analyst Jeff Van Gundy said on Thursday night. “To
win three in five years means you’re one of the great teams.”
Information,
statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 5/5/19 9:30 p.m. edition of “Inside
the NBA,” presented by Kia on TNT with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles
Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal; 5/10/19 9 p.m. “Golden State Warriors versus
Houston Rockets,” Game 6 of Western Conference Semifinals, presented by Well
Fargo on ESPN with Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, and Lisa Salters;
5/18/19 9 p.m. “NBA Courtside,” presented by SoFi on ESPN with Michelle Beadle,
Jalen Rose, Paul Pierce, and Chauncey Billups; 5/20/19 11:30 p.m. edition of
ESPN’s “Sportscenter,” with Steve Levy and John Buccigross; 6/13/19 9 p.m.
“Toronto Raptors versus Golden State Warriors,” Game 6 of NBA Finals, presented
by YouTubeTV on ABC with Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, and Doris
Burke; YouTube piece of Kevin Durant addressing rumors about him going to the
Knicks, “Kevin Durant Has ‘No Clue’ Where Knicks Rumors Came From-NBA on ESPN;”
https://www.nba.com/games/20190613/TORGSW#/boxscore/recap;
6/14/19 www.nba.com story, “Injured Warriors Brace For
Unclear Summer,” by Janie McCauley of “The Associated Press:” and https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/6589/draymond-green.
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