In a season of ups and downs, the Warriors are back where we’re used to them: the NBA Playoffs.
The Warriors secured their first playoff spot since the 2018-19 season with their 111-107 win over the Utah Jazz at the Chase Center on Saturday. Golden State is currently No. 3 in the Western Conference and has a one-game lead over the Dallas Mavericks. Utah is now three games behind the Warriors.
The Warriors secured their playoff spot in dramatic fashion as they recovered from a 21-point deficit to stun the Jazz. Klay Thompson fueled the comeback with an electrifying fourth quarter.
The two-year hiatus marked the first time Golden State missed the playoffs since the 2011-12 season and the first time in Steve Kerr’s coaching career.
From the 2014-15 season through the 2018-19 season, the Warriors reached the NBA Finals five straight years and took home three titles. But Kevin Durant tore his Achilles tendon in Game 5 of the 2019 Finals against the Toronto Raptors, and Klay Thompson tore his ACL in Game 6. That was just the beginning of the Warriors’ injury woes.
With Durant joining the Brooklyn Nets as free agency and Thompson out for the year, the Warriors faced an uphill battle already in the 2019-20 season. After just four games into the season, Steph Curry broke his hand, played just one more game and the Warriors had the worst record in the NBA at 15-50.
Thompson missed a second straight season after tearing his Achilles tendon just before the start of last season, and despite Curry playing like an MVP and posting a new career-high 32.0 points per game to see the league in the league for the second time Leading the score, the Warriors didn’t make the playoffs. They did make it into the first play-in tournament, but despite Curry’s heroic efforts, the Warriors came up short in both games.
Even without Thompson at the start of the season, the Warriors came out of the gate and fired on all guns. Curry made it into this last season, Draymond Green played Defensive Player of the Year again, Jordan Poole enjoyed his Year 3 breakthrough and the front office got a pat on the back for his trade with Andrew Wiggins plus two lottery picks and free-agent signatures.
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Then came the bad luck with injuries.
Klay completed his two-and-a-half-year comeback on January 9, 2022, but Draymond was injured during a pre-game practice session, playing seven seconds to honor his teammate and missing the next 30 games. Just one game after Green returned, Curry was also injured.
The Warriors Big Three, Curry, Thompson and Green, have played 11 minutes together this season. Golden State has seen Steph, Klay, Draymond and Andre miss Iguodala for extended periods. 2020 draft pick James Wiseman will not play a game this season after suffering a meniscus injury in his rookie year and struggling with setbacks this season, and key players like Gary Payton II and Otto Porter Jr .have also missed a handful of games.
Kerr has said this season is unlike any he’s dealt with in the past – as a manager or a player. Now he and the Warriors are back in the playoffs after a bumpy regular season and will once again be looking for another championship to bring home.
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