The Warriors are old.
The Warriors are young.
Somewhere in the middle of all that, Andrew Wiggins resides.
And Golden State is hoping this strange brew — these two timelines, if you will — will mesh not only for Tuesday’s win-or-go-home play-in tournament game with the Kings in Sacramento but for any game the Warriors have beyond that.
There’s hope it can. The Warriors are 26-12 since the start of February — one of the best records in the league with strong underlying stats.
But the postseason is a different beast, and it will challenge both sides of the roster in ways they’ve never faced before.
For the veterans — who, save for Chris Paul, have rings on their fingers — Tuesday’s game creates a real issue:
How can you pace yourself for what you hope is a long postseason run if you start with a Game 7-like contest?
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I’m no runner, but I don’t think starting a marathon with a full-on sprint is advantageous. Especially if you then have to follow that start with another full-on sprint.
That sounds like an excellent way to lose your legs before the playoffs start.
(The Play In Tournament, like Wiggins, exists in between places. They are not technically playoff games or regular season games. It’s basketball purgatory in every way.)
But what other choice do Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson have? With the possibility of the Big Three being broken up this summer looming (Thompson is a free agent), it would be terribly unbecoming if the all-time great trio’s final act together was to lose to the Kings in Sacramento in the 9-10 game.
Will it diminish the legend? Of course not. We’ll just treat it like we collectively remember Michael Jordan playing for the Washington Wizards—I believe the term is collective amnesia.
Still, forgetting it ever happened will take some effort.
It would be best if we could avoid the scenario altogether.
But Tuesday will take nearly everything the Warriors’ veterans have to win. Golden State will have a hell of a time staying in front of Kings point guard D’Aaron Fox, and Green is two early fouls (or a stomp) away from Domantas Sabonis doing a Nicola Jokic impression in the high post.
The Warriors say they are a better team this season than the one that went seven with the Kings in the first round last season. They might be. The Kings are unquestionably worse, particularly without Warriors killer Malik Monk, who is injured and will not play Tuesday.
But don’t forget that the Dubs went down 2-0 to Sacramento in last year’s series and needed one of Curry’s greatest performances—a 50-piece in Game 7—to advance.
And the ramifications of that series win were felt a round later. The Dubs had no gas left in the tank for the critical portions of the team’s second-round series with the Lakers.
By his lofty standards, Curry limped to the finish line this season. The burden of carrying this team throughout the regular season was evident—his shooting percentages from the field and 3-point line dropped four percent (resulting in a five-point-per-game drop) after the All-Star break, all while he drove to the basket less and turned the ball over more.
In a one-off (or a two-off, like the Warriors face) there are few players in the league you’d rather have at the helm.
But, without extrapolating too far, what will Curry have left for a seven-game series should the Dubs advance? Curry is a markedly better player on three-plus days rest (27 points per game, 41 percent from 3), and he’ll have it going into Tuesday’s contest. But after that, it’s bang-bang-bang. With a win the Warriors will play Thursday in Los Angeles or New Orleans. Another win, and they’re in Oklahoma City for what is expected for a Sunday contest. From that point on, rest won’t come easy.
Curry has the heart of a lion, but does he still have the legs of a gazelle?
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The Warriors can’t overly concern themselves with such matters now — they have to take everything day-by-day, but should Golden State win Tuesday, this issue has to be considered primary for the Warriors moving forward.
Similar questions of full availability must be asked of the other veterans on the team. The Warriors know what they’ll get from Green — so long as he stays on the court — but what about Thompson? Can he string together back-to-back strong games to advance to the playoffs? Can he even give back-to-back halves? Some of his best-scoring games this season have come via one-quarter bursts.
And what of Paul? The Warriors need his steady hand for the minutes when Curry isn’t on the floor, but can Golden State trust that his legs have the lift to score in the playoffs? Can they play him and Curry together in the backcourt and survive against the focused and bespoke offensive game plans teams bust out after 82 regular season games?
(I gave up on guessing which Wiggins will arrive for any game, much less a big one — the Warriors can only hope it’s the 2022 edition, a brilliant and title-winning player.)
There’s no question that the young players have the legs heading into this postseason, but do they have their heads about them? The playoffs require physical prowess, sure, but the intensity of the games ahead also requires serious mental fortitude, unwavering focus, and a comprehensive understanding of one’s role on both sides of the court.
Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis are wise beyond their years (21 and 24), but these all-or-nothing contests will put that level-headedness to the test. It’s all been fun and games up until this point. Let’s see if the kids can continue to play winning basketball when everything is on the line.
And let’s see what Jonathan Kuminga makes the trip to Sacramento. At 21 years old, Kuminga is the X-factor of all X-factors. He can singlehandedly win the Warriors Tuesday’s game, and he also carries the ability to lose it for them, too.
If the uber-athletic wing plays controlled, disciplined ball inside the Warriors’ systems, he can be the No. 2 Curry needs to lift the Dubs. A big Kuminga game, in service of Curry and the team, could result in a big Warriors win.
But a game where Kuminga serves himself — as he still, understandably, wants to do at times — could torpedo any chance the Dubs have of winning. Might be a viable No. 1 someday, but that day is not today. And there were plenty of regular season games where he seemed hellbent on proving that belief incorrect — game plan be damned. The Warriors did not fare well in those contests.
Above all, remember that the Warriors were the worst team to make the postseason in the Western Conference. The banners don’t matter. Last year’s first-round win doesn’t matter, either. The Warriors need everyone at their best this week if they’re to play for anything meaningful come the weekend.
And truthfully, even that might not be enough.
It’s time for the young, the old, and the inscrutable, unplaceable, and indispensable Wiggins to come together.
They’ve played good basketball as of late.
They need to play great basketball now.
