The Warriors remain a mystery. Even as defending champions, they have not exactly carried themselves with an air of inevitability, as they did in the 2014-15 season, when they coasted into the playoffs with a 67-15 record, or in the 2017-18 season, which they punctuated with their third title in four years.
This latest iteration of the Warriors — even with their familiar core — is an abstract painting. There is little continuity. Momentum is a foreign concept. Some nights, they produce basketball as high art. Other nights, they look uninspired or — gasp! — a little old. During the regular season, they had the one of the best records in the league at home and one of the worst records in the league on the road. Go figure.
But Golden State’s victory at Sacramento in Game 5 was one of those rare road triumphs. And it seemed a strong indication that the Warriors had unearthed some of their former magic, that they were, according to Coach Steve Kerr, “a different team” than they had been earlier this season or even earlier this month. More cohesive. More determined. And fully capable of elevating their play in the postseason.
Back home for Game 6 on Friday, Golden State was in a position to do what it had done so many times before — win and advance. Instead, the Kings went with a smaller lineup, pushed the pace and still managed to outrebound the Warriors, 53-42. Golden State shot 37.2 percent from the field. Stephen Curry missed three free throws and committed five turnovers.
“They was a little tired,” Monk said. “We were a little younger than they are, so we knew we could take advantage of that. So we’re going to try to do the same thing on Sunday.”
Curry, 35, who scored 29 points in the loss, cited “mental errors” as the culprit.
“I don’t know if that was an energy thing or a focus thing,” he said, “but you have to be able to learn those lessons quick. Because we put ourselves in a situation where we have to be the team that’s playing with desperation.”
Before they closed out the regular season as the No. 3 seed in the West, the Kings had gone 16 seasons without a playoff appearance. It has been 19 seasons since they won a series.
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