Warriors Game Day: Sights & Sounds From #WarriorsGround – Nailbiter Came Down To Two Missed Free Throws By Stephen Curry (Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account)
ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Let’s flashback a moment to the start of the 2013-14 season for the Golden State Warriors. If you would’ve told me that the Golden State Warriors would be in a Game 6 at home, with their backs against the wall to force a Game 7, I would’ve said “maybe”. If you would’ve told me Draymond Green would get “MVP” chants, I would’ve said “c’mon now”. If you would’ve told me the game would be sealed by Stephen Curry missing two free throws, I would’ve said, “What planet are you from?”
This is no ordinary Game 6. This is Game 6 at #Roaracle. As if you thought the pregame hype wasn’t enough, this one lived up to and surpassed expectations. Let us begin…
Pre-tipoff, I finally got a moment to catch David Lee and Curry doing their usual sprint to the opposing baseline. That, and the fact that I’d videotaped Jordan Crawford lacing up his shoes (read the pregame piece), must’ve been good luck. Definitely.
Things got off to a rocky start against the Los Angeles Clippers as Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan did what they do best: manhandle the frontline. Be it alley-oops or stops at the rim, they were doing, and especially Jordan in emphatic fashion, with a couple of volleyball swats. It was Clippers 14, #Warriors 5, early on with 8:00 to go in the first quarter.
The Warriors clawed back to tie it 16-16 on a Curry three-pointer. Clippers head coach Doc Rivers immediately called timeout after that to curb the Dubs’ momentum. Great team defense, getting their hands on loose balls as well as causing deflections, led to an 11-2 run.
At the end of the first frame, it was tied, 25-25. Curry, as he would later say, got things going by “running downhill”, avoiding the Clippers’ vaunted trap, and scored 14 first-quarter points, on 6-for-12 from the field, 2-for-5 from beyond the arc, and, more importantly, zero turnovers. However, Jordan was a beast at the rim, tallying 3 rejections. Matt Barnes started out hot from the three-point line as well, leading the Clippers in scoring to start.
The Warriors’ Jordan Crawford gave a commendable performance off the bench, even hitting another buzzer-beater, although this time it was an offensive putback off of a missed shot.
With 2:48 to go before halftime, the Clippers led 44-40. They seemed poised to continue their physical and athletic superiority. Draymond Green had 8 rebounds already, and Curry was up to 16 points by now, but there was a glaring red flag: Klay Thompson had not even scored a single point yet.
Just before halftime, Warriors head coach Mark Jackson employed “Hack-A-Jordan”, sending DeAndre to the line and the strategy paid dividends, as he couldn’t convert on all of them. However, Rivers countered with his own “Hack-A-Hilton” (Armstrong), forcing Jackson to take Armstrong out of the game while Lee and Green flirted with 3 fouls.
It was Clippers 51, Warriors 48, at halftime. Curry had 18 points on 7-for-17 from the field, to go along with 3 assists. Green was up to 9 points by now, but Thompson only produced a paltry 2 points.
With 2:30 to go in the 3rd quarter, the Warriors had taken the lead, 65-62. #Roaracle got louder, even introducing a new chant: “We Are (clap clap) Warriors (clap clap).” The thunderstix also helped push the decibel meter higher. On the court, the Warriors fed off the energy.
At the end of three quarters, the Warriors were still up, 70-67. Could they keep up this great defense? Could they weather the storm of questionable calls and non-calls from the referees, who seemed to miss a call — confirmed by jumbotron replay — once every five-to-ten minutes of real time?
Even with David Lee fouled out, Golden State continued to gang rebound. Marreese Speights provided a spark off the bench in Jermaine O’Neal‘s absence, as O’Neal got “speared” by Glen “Big Baby” Davis, a play that came after a missed shot and that was not called a flagrant foul (O’Neal will have an MRI the next day).
Jordan Crawford, who had a great first quarter, was rewarded with playing time during crunch time, but couldn’t convert on a few post-up attempts against the smaller Darren Collison. Not too long after Jackson finally brought Andre Iguodala back in to close things out, Iguodala got fouled on a made three-pointer.
Suddenly, the Warriors were up 96-89 with 2:29 to play.
Alas, Iguodala missed the free throw, the Clippers came back with a couple three-pointers, and just like that, it was a one-possession game. The Warriors gave their all as the Clippers launched threes in desperation, with the rebounds off missed shots up for grabs.
Golden State ended up with 14 missed free throws. The last two were when Curry got fouled after a defensive rebound, with 0.4 seconds left, up one, 100-99.
#Roaracle let out a gasp as Curry once again missed another free throw. At that point, it made more sense to just miss the second free throw, which Curry skillfully did, making the ball bounce far off the glass and rim, with no Los Angeles player nearby. The Clippers had virtually no chance to do anything with the ball, even if the rebound had landed in their hands (it did not).
The buzzer sounded and #WarriorsGround went crazy.
Game 7 will be at Staples Center in less than 48 hours, on Saturday, May 3rd.
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