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Stephen Curry emerged from the Golden State Warriors’ locker room an hour after his team finally closed out the gusty LA Clippers 129-110 late Friday night.
Curry walked briskly past Warriors general manager Bob Myers, but his limp from a sprained right ankle in the first quarter was obvious.
“That’s been our season,” Myers said with a shrug.
Half an hour earlier, shooting guard Klay Thompson had left Staples Center with an even more pronounced limp after spraining his right ankle in the third quarter.
And earlier this series, Golden State lost starting centre DeMarcus Cousins indefinitely to a torn quadriceps.
Both Curry and Thompson said they’d be fine.
But with little next to no time before today’s Game 1 of the conference semi-finals against the Houston Rockets, there’s little time to heal.
This is the consequence of blowing the 31-point lead against the Clippers in Game 2 of this series and failing to close them at home in Game 5 last Wednesday.
Yes, the Clippers had something to do with each of those games, but if the ankle injuries to Curry and Thompson or extra energy expended in this series ends up with real consequences in the next round, all history will remember is Golden State’s penchant for uneven performances as they battle their own complacency and hubris.
That’s been a constant battle for the Warriors the past two seasons.
Each season feels longer until the playoffs finally begin.
The slog of the regular season dulls the senses.
“The tenure of our run is challenging mentally and physically,” assistant coach Bruce Fraser said.
“I think everyone is a little tired. We’ve been at this so long. But I think the playoffs motivate us.
“And the Clippers got our attention.
“They are a really impressive team.”
But will this series (against the Rockets) end up being the challenge that sharpens the Warriors into championship form for what many believe is the team that has the best chance of dethroning them?
No team has played the Warriors tougher in recent years than the Rockets.
Including playoffs, Houston is 8-6 against them over the past two seasons, one of just three teams to have a winning record against Golden State.
This season, the Rockets won three of their four games with Golden State.
“They brought out our best,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said of the Clippers.
“One of the things that happens during the playoffs is you can sharpen your game against an opponent that forces you to do so.
“And so that’s what I saw.
It was fitting, in a way, that Kevin Durant and Draymond Green came together to carry the Warriors to this win in Game 6.
Durant had 50 points on 15-of-26 shooting from the field, becoming the sixth player in NBA playoff history with 45 or more points in consecutive games.
Green finished with a triple double of 16 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists and 4 blocks.
The Warriors’ season – and maybe their legacy – still feels like it’ll be defined by the way they responded to the argument between Green and Durant against these same Clippers back on November 12.
That argument, which began on the bench, spilled over and escalated in the locker room. It felt like a fracture that could derail this dynasty.
It still might prove prophetic.
But on Friday night, the two men seemed as connected as ever on the court. – ESPN.
Online Reporter