The question is not whether the Warriors have their backs against the wall, but whether that masonry is pressed up against a backbone.
Two straight chances to close their grip around back-to-back championships, and both times they let it slip through their grasp.
Once because they were playing without the suspended Draymond Green. Once because they played without poise, composure and a requisite sense of urgency.
“We expected to win the NBA championship coming into the season,” said Klay Thompson after the 115-101 thumping in Game 6 at Quicken Loans Arena. “It’s either win the whole thing or bust for us. I mean, it’s no fun getting second place. So it would be a great season, but at the same time to us, the players, we’re so competitive, we’d feel like we failed.”
If it happened, a storybook season that saw Golden State set an all-time record with 73 regular season wins would finish with history being flipped on its head with three consecutive losses. The Warriors could become the first team ever to blow a 3-1 lead in The Finals, leaving all of the praises and hosannas of the past two years as hollow as a discarded champagne bottle.
It was a night that began with the defending champs getting virtually blown off the floor 31-11 in the first quarter by the Cavaliers. Then it ended with two-time MVP Stephen Curry blowing his stack and getting ejected for throwing his mouthpiece into the stands — hitting a fan — and tossing a few unkind words in the direction of referee Jason Phillips after getting whistled for his sixth personal foul. There was just 4:22 left in the game, but one could hardly blame Curry’s not wanting to see the ugly conclusion of a grisly night. It was a meltdown from start to finish.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr was defiant in saying he was not worried about his team’s emotions going into Game 7.
“Not at all,” he said. “I think if you start out every season and you say we get a Game 7, we get one game at home to win the NBA championship, I’ll take it every time. So I can’t wait for Sunday. I think we’ll be fine. Obviously, Cleveland has played well the last two games and we’ve got to play better. But I’m confident we will. We’re in a spot that 29 other teams would love to be in.”
Kerr also defended the tantrum by the normally cuddly-looking and serene Curry.
“Well, that had nothing to do with the outcome. The outcome was decided,” Kerr said. “But he had every right to be upset. He’s the MVP of the league. He gets six fouls called on him, three of them were absolutely ridiculous. You know, he steals the ball from Kyrie (Irving) clean at one point. LeBron (James) flops on the last one. Jason Phillips falls for that for a flop. As the MVP of the league, we’re talking about these touch fouls in the NBA Finals.”
Yet it was an uncharacteristic display from the customarily unflappable Curry.
“I’ve thrown my mouthpiece before,” Curry said. “I usually aim at the scorer’s table. I was off aim. I definitely didn’t mean to throw it at a fan, but it happened. I went over and apologized to him because that’s obviously not were I was trying to take my frustrations out.”
The Warriors would be better served in Game 7 taking our their frustrations by showing up physically, mentally and emotionally for the opening tip and then going about the business of trying to match the sheer effort of the Cavs.
For while James has been brilliant for the entire series and lifted his performance to a celestial level ? back-to-back 41-point games, along with 11 assists and eight rebounds on Thursday night ? the Warriors have put themselves into this predicament because they simply have not matched the fire, energy and raw emotion of the Cavs of late.
Perhaps it was the yellow brick road they’ve traveled since October, a path that at times seemed more like a coronation than a competition that did it. Or maybe it was winning the first two games by a combined 48 points to open a 2-0 lead in the series. Or even the loss of Green for a game due to his serial crotch attacks. Whatever the cause, the Warriors seem to have ceded the high ground and the aggressors’ role to the Cavs.
It’s one thing to lose a championship series game. But not to lose it in the first quarter before Beyonce and Jay Z have even made it to their courtside seats. The Warriors shot just 5-for-22 in the first quarter, were out rebounded by a 16-7 margin and were, for all intents and purposes, done right there.
“It’s not explainable,” Thompson said. “Inexcusable…Come Sunday, we’ve got to blitz them. We can’t be on our heels and them be the aggressor.”
The limo ride through the regular season is long past. The Warriors had to make history and climb out of 3-1 hole in the Western Conference finals to beat the Thunder. Now they’ve got to avoid being on the wrong end of history here.
“So things haven’t gone our way despite how the regular season went,” Curry said. “The playoffs hasn’t been easy. Hasn’t been a breeze. Hasn’t been anything perfect about it.
“So, yeah, it’s frustrating. But the work we’ve put in and the opportunity we’ve given ourselves with a Game 7 to win The Finals at home, you’ve got to be excited about that, regardless of how these two games went.”
That’s the wall behind them, waiting for something to push back.
Fran Blinebury has covered the NBA since 1977. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter.
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