Warriors swimming upstream from start set up crashing end to tough season

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Warriors ‘swimming upstream’ from start set up a crashing end originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

LOS ANGELES — Steph Curry wasn’t merely disappointed addressing the media Friday night after a 122-101 blowout loss to the Los Angeles Lakers ended the Warriors’ season in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals. In his own words, he was “shell-shocked.”

The Warriors found themselves in rare territory, losing their first playoff series to a Western Conference opponent under coach Steve Kerr. They lost all three of their road games to the Lakers, snapping a streak of winning at least one road game in 28 straight playoff series. And it all came down to a franchise known for catching fire going ice cold from the field.

The Lakers made their first six shots, and though the Warriors clawed back a handful of times, Golden State never held a lead once. Though the Warriors attempted 28 more shots than the Lakers, they made the exact same amount of shots (39). The Warriors clanked their way to 37.9-percent shooting and made a lowly 27.1 percent of their 48 3-point shots.

Curry and Klay Thompson, perhaps the game’s two very best at watching the ball sink through the net, each missed 10 threes. The two combined to go 6 of 26 beyond the arc. Curry only made four of his 14 attempts, and Thompson was just as off, going 2 of 12 and 3 of 19 overall.

But the focus quickly shifted to what comes next for the Warriors and what got in the way of their latest title defense. Kerr tried to stay positive when asked where things went wrong in the Warriors’ turbulent season. His message also seeped with reality.

“I think I’m more focused on what went right,” Kerr said. “To be honest with you, the way the season started, we were disjointed and to have that 0-5 road trip, it felt like we were swimming upstream from the beginning. I think we found ourselves down the stretch and in the first round of the playoffs, and to be fair, I think the team probably, ultimately, maxed out.”

Those final two words of Kerr’s assessment are the two that caught the most attention. Five words earlier in his breakdown are equally as important, if not more…

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Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2023-05-13 17:42:46

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