The Warriors will look to cooler heads to prevail after absorbing the third-worst blowout in franchise history.
With Tuesday being the 254th anniversary of the Boston Massacre, the Warriors will look to put aside a 140-88 slaughter at the hands of the Celtics at TD Garden as an isolated instance rather than treat it as a referendum on their worthiness as a postseason contender.
And their voice of reason, of all people, is Draymond Green.
“We’re fine. It’s one game,” Green told reporters in the aftermath. “This ain’t their first rodeo. They understand. We’ve got young guys that have been implemented into the culture and understand the culture. It’s fine.”
The recipient of a five-game suspension and an indefinite ban (which lasted 12 games) that put his Warriors future in jeopardy, Green has, in the words of coach Steve Kerr, “walked the line.” He’ll bellow at an official and take issue with the tactics of an opponent. Then he lets it go.
That’s the same way Green let go of a historic beating that he believed in no way disparaged a 3-1 road trip that saw the Warriors move past the Lakers into the No. 9 spot in the Western Conference with a 32-28 record.
The Warriors host the Milwaukee Bucks (40-21), the No. 2 seed in the East behind Boston, Wednesday night at Chase Center. It’s the start of a three-game homestand that includes Chicago and San Antonio.
Victims on the road trip included the hapless Washington Wizards and former teammate Jordan Poole, a decimated New York Knicks squad and finally a 120-115 win over a Toronto team that has lost 37 games. That one came after spending six hours on an airport tarmac and changing planes before arriving in Canada.
“It’s been a long trip for us, especially with the Toronto trip,” Green said. “But it was good. It’s all right.”
Minus some of the on-court theatrics, it’s been one of the best versions of a four-time NBA champion, playing as an undersized post who willingly defends and brings out the best in his teammates.
Getting Green into the paint defensively was part of a pregame strategy by Kerr that called for their best on-ball defender to back off Boston forward Jaylen Brown. Brown converted five 3-point baskets in the first quarter, with Boston jumping to a 44-22 lead and never looking back.
“You try different things. You have to pick your matchups,” Kerr said. “We wanted Draymond to help on drives and make sure we weren’t giving up easy stuff in the paint.”
Brown could hardly believe his good fortune at being left all by his lonesome.
“It’s the first time that’s happened to me,” Brown said. “Honestly I was a bit surprised. It took a little bit of adjustment. I think we just took advantage at whatever that attempt was and made the most of it. Most of the time I go the paint and let others shoot 3-pointers. But if you want to dare me to shoot, we can do that too.”
If Green was angry about being instructed to watch his man rain 3-pointers like Stephen Curry, he shrugged it off when talking with reporters.
“He just made the shots,” Green said. “We implemented our strategy about 15 minutes before we left the locker room. It didn’t work. We move on. I thought it was fun to try. I was actually all for it. If it works, fine. If it doesn’t, oh well.”
Warriors guard Stephen Curry drives against Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl in a 120-105 road win. A.P. Photo
REST FOR STEPH
Curry said he had a “bang” on his right knee during the Toronto game and was questionable to play against the Celtics. He wound up scoring four points, going 0-for-9 on 3-pointers in just under 17 minutes before taking the rest of the game off.
It lessened the wear and tear on Curry, although Kerr said it’s not the same thing as a true day off in that it still included all the normal pregame mental and physical preparation.
“When you give a guy a day off he gets a day off,” Kerr said. “It’s mentally refreshing. He’s played so well and for so long this year. Hopefully this next few days will get him recharged and hopefully he’ll go out and play golf or something, get away from it and come back Wednesday night ready.”
Unless the Warriors make the NBA Finals, they’ll be done with the Celtics this season. It’s a team Kerr believes is the best version of Boston in recent years, including the 2021-22 team that lost to the Warriors in six games in the NBA Finals.
“They played a physical style and they know how to space and what shots to try and create,” Curry said. “It seems like they have confidence no matter who has the ball in their hands. It’s an identify and a confidence in how you play ever night. You can feel it with certain teams, and certain teams don’t have it. You don’t win 11 in a row by accident.”
The Warriors went into the Boston game having won 13 of their previous 16 but lost enough earlier in the season that the occasional stinker is a step backward.
“You just have to realize we have a very thin margin and we’ve put ourselves in a position where we need a full sprint to the finish line to make up some ground,” Curry said. “Do we think we can get there? Take it one day at a time and that’s where we’re at.”
PODZIEMSKI RETURNS
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Rookie guard Brandin Podziemski missed the Toronto and Boston games with a knee contusion. Kerr said Podziemski will be back against the Bucks and thinks the rest will do him some good.
“Given where he is with his rookie year, those three days, I think he needed it,” Kerr said. “He’s already played more minutes than he did in college last year.”
Assuming Podziemski goes back into the starting lineup, Klay Thompson will return to his role as a sixth man.
Kerr had no update on Andrew Wiggins, the Warriors starting forward who missed the road trip because of an undisclosed family matter. Moses Moody has filled in capably in Wiggins’ place.