【Highlights】Warriors 100-94 Spurs Dream Green quasi-triple-double Warriors four consecutive wins
At 100-94, the Warriors had a thrilling away win over the Spurs, who had been in good shape lately, and returned to winning track with a wave of four consecutive wins at the end of the regular season.
On March 17, the home game against the Celtics was due to a ferocious fall from Marcus Smart, and Stephen Curry sprained his left foot, so the regular season was prematurely reimbursed. After that, the Warriors lost consecutive games, winning just one of their next eight games and outpacing the Grizzlies behind them.
However, after two weeks of adjustments, the Warriors gradually came out of the trough, and in the last four games, they beat the Jazz, Kings, Lakers and Spurs, and Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were in better shape. In addition, there is recent news that Curry has resumed personal training and is expected to return from injury at the beginning of the playoffs, so that the sky in the Bay Area has a little "cloudy to sunny" trend.
However, I have to pour a little cold water here: the Warriors have recently come out of the slump to play four consecutive wins, and it is not worth being complacent, not to mention the quality of the opponent, just like this bottoming out, they have experienced more than once this season, but every time, for one reason or another, they have ushered in new fluctuations.
Lineup changes, poor running-in, and lack of continuity caused by injuries are the biggest difficulties the Warriors have experienced this season, and they are also the biggest challenges they will face in the playoffs.
The Warriors in the first half of the 2021-22 season performed perfectly. They played an impressive 18-2 record in the first 20 games of the season and rode the league standings. After an injury to Iguodala, Curry's feel declined, and the Warriors' forward momentum slowed after losing the top game against the Suns on Nov. 31. Still, they ushered in 2022 with 27 wins and 8 losses, the league number one.
Considering that Klay Thompson's recovery was making continuous progress at that time, the return was imminent, and the voice of the Warriors championship resounded on social networks.
Clay made an official comeback in the home game against the Cavaliers on Jan. 10, and on the same day, Green felt a nervous calf during the pre-game warm-up, and only expressed his welcome to his old comrades in the opening jumping session, and immediately withdrew from the game. Subsequent examinations revealed that the tension in his calf was related to lumbar spine problems, and he missed the next 29 games as a result.
The impact of Green's injury was quickly reflected in the record, and in the next six games, the Warriors suffered four defeats. However, the Warriors used these six games to complete the adjustment, starting from the home game against the Rockets on January 22, playing a wave of eight consecutive wins, defeating opponents including the Jazz, Lone Rangers, Timberwolves and Nets.
Then, the Warriors took the roller coaster again, from playing the Jazz on Feb. 10 to the Nuggets on March 8, and they've gone through 2-9 in 11 games. Clay missed four of those games due to rotation breaks and illness, with Poole, Cumminga and even Moody all coming in and out of the starting line-up. The Warriors kept trying and making mistakes, and at the cost of losing, which re-cultivated the tacit understanding, with a wave of 4 consecutive wins, ushered in Green's return. Unexpectedly, in the second game of Green's return, Curry was injured again....
To sum up simply, the Warriors in the 2021-22 season, except for the beginning of the season because of the stable lineup and the long record, the following games have been fluctuating between continuous losing streaks and consecutive wins. They and the Suns are the only team to have three consecutive wins of at least seven games, but at the same time, they have also experienced two consecutive losing streaks of at least four.
As a comparison: Of the other seven teams currently ranked in the top four in the East and West, only 76 have experienced a five-game losing streak, the Heat have experienced a four-game losing streak, while the Suns, Grizzlies, Mavericks, Bucks, and Celtics have never experienced more than three consecutive losses.
Injuries are an inevitable part of the basketball game, and the Warriors aren't the only team to be hit by injuries, but as the league's most cooperative, most reliant team that relies on projection, they are clearly more affected than most other teams. In particular, the Three Giants have never been able to play at the same time, which has given the Warriors no chance to run into their core lineup.
According to statistics, so far this season, Curry, Klay and Green have only worked together for a total of 5 quarters, and a reporter has asked Warriors coach Steve Kerr on this issue, and his answer is very optimistic: "Stephen, Draymond, Clay, Andrea and Rooney, they have experienced many playoff battles together, and have reached the Finals, which is very critical." They've had a lot of experience working together, and that experience has really helped because they didn't have the opportunity to train together (before the playoffs). ”
On the surface, Cole was right. But what he didn't mention is that compared to the Warriors who won three championships in the Finals for five consecutive years, this team now has not only Curry, Klay, Green, Ichigo and Rooney in the regular rotation, but also Poole, Wiggins, Porter, Payton Jr., Cuminga, Bjlitsa...
Basketball isn't just a "five-person sport," and even in the playoffs, a team needs 8 to 10 people to work together to reap real success.
After today's victory over the Spurs, the Warriors will continue to rank third in the West, one win ahead of the fourth Lone Rangers, and if tomorrow the Warriors lose to the Pelicans and the Lone Rangers defeat the Spurs, the two sides will draw again, then the Warriors will fall to the fourth place in the West because of the 1 win and 3 losses against the Lone Rangers in the regular season.
In addition, the Jazz and Nuggets are currently 48-33, and there is still suspense about who is fifth and who is sixth. But in any case, the Warriors' opponent in the first round of the playoffs will be one of these two teams, no matter who specifically plays, it will not be easy.
The Warriors are an experienced team with the confidence to be unspoiled and the ability to adjust to different situations, but one thing is essential, and that is time.
But now, time is clearly not on the side of the Warriors.