SACRAMENTO — Confident frustration was palpable Saturday night following the Warriors’ Game 1 loss to the Sacramento Kings. A loose Focus followed them in Monday’s pre-Game 2 shootaround, continuing a much-anticipated first-round showdown.
Steph Curry danced across the square while E-40’s “Tell Me When To Go” blared through the speakers. Klay Thompson splashed 3-pointers in the corner and urged someone to uncover the Bay Area rap legend who was kicked out of the Golden 1 Center on Saturday night, citing racial prejudice as the reason for his escort from the building.
Perhaps the difference in experience between these two teams has been overstated. It certainly didn’t matter during the Warriors’ loss in Game 1. But they’ve been here before, and the numbers bear it out.
“I think our coaching staff is doing a great job of making adjustments,” said Kevon Looney at the end of the shootout. “Steph and Draymond [Green] are also great at making adjustments on the fly. That’s why we had so much success in Game 2.
“Every game is different. We know we have a lot of experience and how much one game can change a series, one quarter can change everything. Hopefully we’ll get even better as the series goes on. I think that’s why.” we’re doing so well in Game 2.”
Since taking over as Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr is 5-1 in Game 2 of the first round. He’s also 19-5 overall in Game 2. When the Warriors lose a playoff game, they’ve long come back with a vengeance and walk out of the building with a win.
The Warriors have the most wins in the NBA from a playoff loss since 2015, Kerr’s first season as their head coach. They are 24-8 in the next game after losing in that span. While the Warriors dynasty began in 2015, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green made their first playoff appearances in 2013, beating the Denver Nuggets in six games and then in the next round in the Western Conference Semifinals against the San Antonio Spurs lost .
With that began her talent for avoiding too big a hole in the playoffs. Golden State has won 30-10 after a 2013 playoff loss, giving them a .750 win ratio in those situations, the best in the league.
Jonathan Kuminga, who is only 20 and in his second year as a pro, had the luxury of winning everything as a rookie. Surrounded by superstars and veterans, Kuminga knows what matters on a Monday night.
“The message is to just stay closed,” Kuminga said. “It’s going to be a long game. It was loud the other day and it will be the same here. Pay attention to small details.”
For a team looking to defend their title, the Warriors’ primary goal later became to avoid the NBA play-in tournament. They found out the hard way how unsettling the new addition can be. Ranked No. 9 in the tournament’s inaugural 2020-21 season, the Warriors lost two straight games — first to the Memphis Grizzlies in overtime and then by three points to the Los Angeles Lakers — ending a disappointing season.
With years of experience making adjustments in the series, the Warriors feel that even after a season of ups and downs that saw them finish the regular season as the No. 6 with a 44-38 record, they feel they top every team a seven-game series.
“Anything can happen in a game, as we can see in play-in,” Looney said. “We just wanted to make sure we had time to rest and time to plan the game.
“When we have the opportunity to plan our game and adapt to our opponent, we always do pretty well.”
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In last season’s NBA Finals, the Warriors lost 12 points to the Boston Celtics in Game 1. They were champions after six games. Once Curry and company made their way into the playoffs for the first time, they never found each other in a two-game hole.
And they don’t plan for this to be a first after the final Summer of Game 2 in Sacramento.
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