The Golden State Warriors erased a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 126-121 on Wednesday night and keep their season alive. When it was over, Steve Kerr was not in the mood for measured language.
The Warriors coach said exactly what was in the room.
“For one night, we’re us,” Kerr said. “We’re champions again. I know that that may sound crazy to everybody out there. It’s a Play-In game. I don’t care.”
Those words set the tone for everything that followed in the locker room. A team that has been written off all season, one that went 37-45 and lost Jimmy Butler in January, sounded like a group that remembered exactly who they are.
Curry on Why He Fought to Come Back
GettyStephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
Stephen Curry finished with 35 points and seven three-pointers, including the go-ahead stepback triple with 50 seconds left. After the game, he explained what drove him through a 27-game absence to get back to a moment like this.
“We talked about it the whole time,” Curry said. “Just if we have any type of chance or hope to extend our season, I want to be out there to experience it.”
The words were simple. The meaning behind them was not. Curry did not have to come back. The Warriors’ season was already compromised. He came back because this is what he does, and because moments like Wednesday night are why he plays.
Kristaps Porzingis, who delivered 20 points in his best performance as a Warrior, offered his own perspective on what it is like to have Curry on his side now.
“He’s unreal,” Porzingis said. “I’m happy I’m on his side now because I used to be on the other side. There’s not much you can do when he gets going. It’s truly unique. One of the most special players we’ve ever seen.”
Al Horford echoed that sentiment after hitting four fourth-quarter three-pointers to drag the Warriors back into the game.
“That was great,” Horford said. “You don’t like being on the other side when he does what he does. Just as clutch of a player as you can find. I catch myself just watching him when I’m out there because it still impresses me.”
The Draymond and Kawhi Exchange
GettyKawhi Leonard of the LA Clippers controls the ball against Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors,
The other dominant storyline from Wednesday night was Draymond Green’s performance defensively. He held Kawhi Leonard to two points in the fourth quarter, produced four steals, and made two crucial late turnovers to seal the result.
Leonard, a man of few words, did not hold back when asked about Green afterward.
“Hall of Fame defender,” Leonard said. “It was hard to even get shots up.”
Green heard the comment and responded with the kind of honesty that has defined his career.
“To hear one of the greats say that about me, that’s special,” Green said. “That’s why you do it. You want respect from your peers. That guy took a Defensive Player of the Year award away from me. He’s a man of few words. I don’t think there’s a player in the NBA that does not respect Kawhi Leonard.”
Kerr was equally direct in his own assessment of what Green brings.
“He’s the best defender I’ve ever seen in my life,” Kerr said. “It’s just insane what he does out there.”
Green, characteristically, had one final word for his critics.
“The same people who say I lost a step say I never had a step,” Green said.
Final Word for the Warriors
Wednesday night produced the kind of moments this franchise was built for. Curry being Curry. Green being Green. Kerr refusing to let the occasion feel small.
The Warriors advance to face the Phoenix Suns on Friday with a first-round series against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder on the line.
For one night, they felt like themselves again. Friday against Phoenix will determine how much longer that feeling lasts.
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