Five NBA Finals trips in five years is an amazing feat. Six trips in eight years doesn’t sound too shabby either.
That’s the goal for the Warriors over the next two months, along with a fourth trophy for their championship core of Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala. The landscape of the league has changed in the past two years, especially in the West.
The Phoenix Suns are the reigning Western Conference champs, No. 1 seed and tote a 2-0 lead over the Dallas Mavericks in their second-round series. The upstart Grizzlies are the No. 2 seed and Ja Morant just dropped 47 on the Warriors in Memphis’ Game 2 victory. Ja was a junior in high school when the Dubs Dynasty won its first title in 2015.
On Saturday night, the series will move to San Francisco for the first time as the Warriors will host the Grizzlies for Game 3. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. PT and you can hear all the playoff action on 95.7 The Game, radio home of the Golden State Warriors.
The past two years weren’t fun for the organization – missing the playoffs after the remarkable five-year Finals run. Looking back, Steph and Draymond think the two-year postseason hiatus helped the team.
“I don't think that little two-year break hurt anyone,” Green said. “It definitely didn't hurt me. It allows you to regain that hunger. … In hindsight, it probably was a good recovery for us. But while you’re going through it, you’re miserable.”
Those Finals trips added another combined 10 months of basketball to the mileage meters for the Warriors.
Draymond is 32 now. So is Klay. Steph is 34. Andre is 38 and dealing with a nagging neck issue. Father Time is catching up to the Warriors, who look baby-faced in 2015 photos hoisting their first trophy. Still, Steph thinks the title window is wide open.
"Did the two years off re-motivate us? Absolutely,” Curry said. “Where our core is, in terms of our careers, we feel like we have a whole lot more left in the tank. Right now is an amazing opportunity for us. Each time you get here, you realize – one, how hard it is to get here, how hard it is to win. The fact that there’s a finite timeline to all of this, in terms of trying to play at this level. You gotta appreciate it and enjoy it.”
It’s no secret that the Splash Brothers are struggling, though. Through the first two games of the Grizzlies series, Steph (8-of-23) and Klay (5-of-22) are shooting a combined 28.9 percent from 3-point land.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said fatigue isn’t a factor for Thompson, who is now four months deep into his comeback from a two-and-a-half year injury rehab from ACL and Achilles injuries.
“Our training staff feels great about where Klay is,” Kerr said. “The shooting stuff to me is not related to fatigue.”
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Green is dealing with a swollen right eye and said his vision is still “a little blurry” but he didn’t use it as an excuse for Game 2, when he scored six points with 10 rebounds and seven assists but said he “didn’t play good.”
Iguodala has missed the past three games and is expected to be re-evaluated next week before Game 6, if necessary. Green said the Warriors are proceeding like Iguodala and Gary Payton II (fractured elbow) won’t return this postseason. There's an outside chance Payton II could return at the end of the Western Conference Finals or for the NBA Finals, which start on June 2.
Iguodala was limited to 31 games in the regular season with pedestrian averages of 4.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists. But his versatility and impact on defense, smart passes and overall trust of his teammates will be missed.
“Seventeen years of experience – you’re replacing that with a half a year of experience, two years of experience,” Green said. “That’s just a totally different look. In saying that, you have to make the adjustment. I think we’re doing a decent job of the adjustment, but it’s hard.
“When he came back here, you’re not really looking at it like, ‘Ah man, Andre’s gonna come back here and he’s gonna play a bunch of regular season games and a bunch of regular season minutes and it’s gonna be great.’ You’re not looking at it that way. You’re looking at it, like, ‘All right, bring Andre back. Everybody’s happy about it.’ We know that when the playoffs roll around, you can turn to him and he’ll provide whatever it is that we need. To not have that, that’s a huge, huge loss.”
