Warriors up 2-0 but still cautious
Golden State has not forgotten how Cavs came back last year
Everyone forgets about Game 3.
It’s the inherent nature of discussing the Golden State Warriors’ collapse against the Cleveland Cavaliers after leading 3-1 in the 2016 NBA Finals. Draymond Green’s suspension for Game 5 was the beginning of the end, and next thing you knew, they earned the kind of infamy that haunts them.
But as the Warriors head into Game 3 against the Cavs on Wednesday with the same 2-0 lead they had a year ago, this was the cautionary tale that had captured their attention.
LeBron James and Kyrie Irving combined for 62 points. J.R. Smith hit five three-pointers. No one in a Warriors jersey scored more than Stephen Curry’s 19 points. The Cavs won 120-90 and set the stage for
their unprecedented comeback.
“I (remember) the nature with which they won that game, the force that they brought,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “They blew us out. … And I thought that gave them confidence, gave their crowd confidence. We came back and won Game 4 in a great effort and had them right where we wanted them, but I think Game 3 gave them that confidence.”
Talent rules almost all in the NBA, but championships can be won and lost between the ears, too. Considering the way the Warriors have dominated the first two games this season, winning by a combined 41 points while setting a league record for consecutive playoff wins (now 14-0), they possess a mental edge that just might disappear if the Cavs can manage to “Defend the Land,” as their motto goes.
Therein lies the challenge for the Warriors.
After suffering the worst kind of NBA trauma a year ago, seeing that trophy slip away when they appeared to be such a superior team, they have every reason to treat every game like a Game 7. Don’t give up even an inch on the rope. Don’t let James’ supreme confidence become contagious to those role players who have let him down. Win Game 3, and this thing is unofficially over.
But as they all said Tuesday, it’s that singular focus on recapturing the Larry O’Brien Trophy that is the driving force. There has been no internal discussion about becoming the first team to go 16-0 in the playoffs, a feat that would instantly put them into the best-team-of-all-time debate. There is no talk of revenge, with the Warriors more focused on their own mission rather than the rivalry itself.
“There’s no feeling of ‘ We’re almost there,’ ” Green said. “You’ve got to play every game like you’re down. If you can keep that mind-set, you’ll eventually reach the goal. But to say we’re up 2-0, (so) we’re good? Like, we still got two more games to win, and those two will be way harder than the first two. So we’ve just got to stay locked in like we have been.
“They’re down 2-0, coming home. (The) crowd’s going to be loud. They’re going to give everything they have. And we definitely understand that and know that we’ve got to come out ready to fight and just be ready for whatever, because they’re going to throw everything at us.”
It’s a cliché but true: One game at a time.
“We want 15-0,” Kerr said. “That’s what we want. We literally have never once mentioned 16-0. To me, it’s a miracle that it’s even a possibility. It’s so hard to do. But we are here, we’re more focused on what happened last year … in terms of up 2-0 and we came here and the series shifted. That’s the important lesson, not any historical bench marks or anything like that.”
What’s important is that they make the Cavs pay again for trying to play at the Warriors’ pace, a decision roundly criticized Tuesday when James and others made it clear they have no intention of slowing the pace.
What’s important is Golden State match Cleveland’s physicality, as the added emotion of playing at home surely will have a ripple effect on that front.
What’s important is that the Warriors break off from the 2016 script, winning Game 3 while demoralizing the proud Cavs in the process.
“(Going) 16-0 doesn’t matter in any stretch of the imagination unless (it’s) a closeout game,” Curry said. “And that’s the opportunity in front of us, because all it is is just winning a championship and doing what you need to do to get that done. So (Game 3 is) another step in that direction that we need to be ready for.”
“(Going) 16-0 (in the postseason) doesn’t matter in any stretch of the imagination unless (it’s) a closeout game.” Stephen Curry, saying the Warriors are focused on Game 3, not their playoff record