Led 2-1 in the NBA Finals before Game 4 which will once again be played on hostile ground on Friday, the Warriors are in an uncomfortable situation to say the least. However, the Stephen Curry – Klay Thompson – Draymond Green – Andre Iguodala quartet has already gone through this type of scenario. It was 2015, and they haven’t forgotten.
We still remember it. It was seven years ago, and the Warriors were then participating in their first NBA Finals in the Stephen Curry era. Possessing the home field advantage against Cleveland, Golden State had dropped one of the first two games at Oracle Arena before losing Game 3 to the band at LeBron James. We know the rest. Led 2-1 against the Cavs with Game 4 to play in Ohio, Steve Kerr’s men rebounded, relying in particular on the integration of Andre Iguodala – MVP of the series – in the five, equalizing d first at 2-2 before continuing with two additional successes to win the bagouze. This great experience, the Dubs want to use it today to get out of their bad patch against the Celtics. While a lot has obviously changed since 2015, the hard core of the era is still there and there are a lot of similarities to the very dynamics of the series. Enough to seek inspiration before Round 4 in Boston on Friday night, which clearly looks like a must-win game for Golden State.
“It’s 2015 vibes. […] Being down 2-1, and opposite they have a similar style of play [les Cavaliers de l’époque et les Celtics d’aujourd’hui, ndlr.]. A lot of one-on-one, they attack the racket and spread the field with very good shooters. It’s very similar.
And they obviously have a lot of very good players. They don’t have LeBron James, but they have All-NBA players like Tatum. And Brown starts knocking on the door. Being down 2-1 in the final, we have already experienced that, so we can rely on our experience. »
– Klay Thompson
For the record, the 2015 Warriors had also been in a similar situation as early as the Western Conference semi-finals that year, against the Memphis Grizzlies (to ultimately win the series 4-2). Ditto in 2016 against the Thunder, where Oklahoma City even won in Game 4 to take a 3-1 advantage, before seeing the Dubs completely reverse the series. We tell you all this to remind you that it’s in the DNA of the Warriors Steve Kerr version to reverse situations that are badly started, and therefore never bury Golden State before the final buzzer. Now, you have to admit that it doesn’t look very good for Californians. Draymond Green is on the street, Stephen Curry has a boo, the Celtics seem on a mission, and we don’t know if Klay is really able to confirm his performance tonight. The more we advance, the more we have the impression that the Greens truly represent the worst game-up for the Warriors, in particular through their defensive capacities and the athletic/physical dimension that Boston players bring to each position. So certainly, the Cavs, the Grizzlies, and the Thunder of the time offered fairly similar challenges at this level, but the current Warriors are probably not as terrifying as those of five or six years ago. It’s up to them to make us lie.
Yes, Klay Thompson and his longtime pals have been through this before. But the experience does not weigh very heavily if the team itself does not have sufficient capacity to face the challenge imposed by the adversary. And today, it’s a bit like the impression we have after last night’s Game 3 in Boston…
Source text: post-match press conference